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CHRIST VICTORIOUS 

OVER ALL 



"FIRST-BORN OF ALL CREATION 

BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD 

FIRST-BORN FROM THE DEAD 

HEAD OVER THE UNIVERSE 

HEAD OF THAT CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY 

PRIEST— KING OF ISRAEL 

SAVIOR OF THE WORLD 

KING AND GOD OF THE EONS 

TO HIM THE GLORY 

IN THE CHURCH IN CHRIST JESUS 

IN ALL THE GENERATIONS 

OF THE EON 

OF THE EONS ! 

AMEN" 



"And they shall all be taught of God''' 
" — they shall all know Me^salth the Lord'' 



By JOSEPH S. JOHNSTON 



640 East 43d Street, Chicago, 111. 



f\ 



Copyright 1921 
By Joseph S. Johnston 



MAR 21 1921 



§)CU608890 






PREFACE 

The purpose, plan, and accomplishment of the work that the 
Creative Word was sent forth to do, are to be found in the Written 
Word. Certain aspects are taken up in this book, as will readily be 
seen by the chapter headings, mainly as they have a bearing on escha- 
tology. "All things are out of God" — There was a beginning; "I 
am the Beginning, — I Jesus." There was a program according to 
which the knowledge of God was Divinely taught in orderly progres- 
sion from Alpha to Omega. During the course of its five definite eons 
all creatures live, and move, and have their being, in the creating, 
sustaining Living Word. — "All things are through God." The Son 
of God is to carry on this work in the path of humiliation, the 
essential glory of His Godhood being veiled until He delivers a per- 
fected Universe to The Father, when the last veil shall be removed, 
and the one only God is all in all in Fatherhood ; for "All things are 
unto God." ( See Eph. 3:11, the purpose of the eons ; Isa. 55 : 11, My 
Word that- goeth forth ; Rom. 1 1 136, for out of Him, and through Him, 
and unto Eim are all things, ta panta, the all; Rev. 22:13, I am the 
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the 
End." Heb. 11:3, "The eons were planned by the continuous inten- 
tion of God," but this is a matter to be accepted by faith in the Divine 
Statement. Rev. 1:1, The unveiling; I Cor. 15: 22, delivers up the 
kingdom.) He is a God of order, of cosmos not chaos, and in a 
finished Universe there will be a place for everything and every- 
thing will be in its place. Christ will be Victorious. God will be 
satisfied, and the Universe will be blessed and harmonious under the 
Headship of Christ Jesus, • the First-born from the dead. 

A spiritual perception of the exact teaching of the Bible on 
three points will decide for us the true view of the last things; a 
consistent doctrine of the eons, a doctrine of sin and its penalty, and 
a perception of the sphere and function of man's free will. A chapter 
is given to each of these. It is desirable also that every Scripture 
passage bearing on the subject should be seen to be in the harmony 
that its Divine inspiration involves. This can be done, if rightly 
divided, distinguishing things that differ. (See Chapters III and 
IV.) No doctrine should be considered apart from its vital con- 
nection with Christ Jesus, the Divine Head over all things, both in 



4 PREFACE 

the old and the new creation. This is recognized in Chapter I. 
"Take heed how ye hear." "He that hath eyes to see, let him see." 
The writer claims no authority, and disclaims all responsibility except 
to his own master, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. 

If Scripture teaching on eschatology is worthy of any belief, what- 
ever that teaching may be, it is worth the pains of first-hand Berean 
search. To profess the truth of God for no other reason or on no 
other ground than man's say so, is an unworthy attitude. If God, in 
Christ and the Bible, condescends to teach, we can have no excuse 
for continued ignorance and error. 

Bishop Ewing says: "Unless 'restitution of all things' be held 
as a matter of faith and not as a speculative dogma, it is practically 
valueless. With me this final victory is not a matter of speculation 
at all, but positive faith ; and to disbelieve it would be for me to cease 
altogether either to trust or worship God." 

The teaching of endless torment in Hell as the penalty for sin is 
to be condemned for many reasons: 

1. The argument and its conclusion originated in the human 
reasoning and is within the sphere of law. 

2. Scripture citations are from translations that pervert the origi- 
nal language. 

3. It ignores the fulness of the work of the Son of God, and its 
complete success. 

4. It denies the finished work of the cross. 

5. It is an addition to the Scripture penalty for sin, which is death 
only. 

6. In making justice, unsatisfied at the cross, the ruling element in 
human destiny, it denies that "grace reigns" through righteousness. 

7. It confirms contradictions in the translation of the Bible. 

8. As part of the dominant creed it disfellowships a believer of 
Colossians 1 : 20 and fosters division. 

9. It hides the gospel from the unlearned. 

10. It is responsible for the pagan doctrine of the immortality 
of the soul inherent in man, apart from Christ. 

11. It imposes dogmatic human notions of its own upon the re- 
lation of Christ Jesus to humanity after death. 

12. Under many creeds it demands confession by those who have 
no positive belief in it, through a supposed loyalty to God's Word. 

13. It ascribes victory to man's will in conflict with God's, in 



PREFACE 5 

face of the fact that many wills have changed to an experience of sal- 
vation, not by man's initiative, but by influences brought to bear upon 
his soul, the case of Saul of Tarsus being declared a sample. 

14. It harms the soul of every believer of the Bible who tries to 
preach it. 

15. It adds no spiritual joy to those who hold it, as all truth 
should. 

16. Its prevalence is due to the natural man's pride and prejudice, 
and to the ecclesiastic's love of power, and to the submission of a lazy, 
irresponsible laity to those who seat themselves in the place of carnal 
clerical authority. 

With such an indictment even possibly true, is it not incumbent 
on every one who publicly teaches on this topic to be sure that he has 
the one only Biblical position; that he is not using false renderings 
of the Hebrew and Greek, nor relying on a part of the Scripture 
only, nor disregarding dispensational landmarks? 

The published utterances of men whom Christendom honors are 
used in this book, it is hoped without detriment to their usefulness 
apart from these special quotations; which are taken because at hand, 
and as presumably fairly representative of the various positions there- 
in set forth, and which are tested according to the Bible. These 
teachings may be regarded as Gamaliel advised: "If this counsel 
or this work be of men, it will be overthrown: but if it is of God, 
ye will not be able to overthrow them." (Acts 5: 38.) And Paul 
says: "For we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth." 
(II Cor. 13:8.) 



DIA.I. 



The EONS. EpS", ITi ,7 ? He|3 II 3 . 



o 
o 



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z. 
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iti 

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r 

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ZP3 6 



from 



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The First* 



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old eon 



ZP2* 

tiie eons 



coi; i6 



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.years 



III. 



this eon. 



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end. of th« [3] eons. 
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reoman gospel 
Wz years. *■■* 
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4-344 



iv: 



coming eon 



Mk |0*« 

for 



the eons 



the eons 



/coo 
years. \ 



v. 



cow of fjtegow 



the eons. 



to come 



of the eons. 



the eon of 



the sons. 



( Omega. 
(The Last 
The End.. 



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with 

Ey>Z* 



II. 



2P2* 

with 

El»2* 



III. 



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Mkll ,f 

dn}3* 
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LuJ 70 
/fc3 a , t I5' 8 , 



IT6 ,r 

2T4'° 

Tit3'* 

Mt 2 3 * 

Mtl3 3 * 

Lul6* 

Lu20 3 * dn£ 3i 

Rol2* Mk4'* 

ICo2«,3'« Mt»3 3 ^ , 

2Co4 4 Mt24 3 

E*r%2* Mt )3 49 
32 times. 



IV. 



MklO 30 

He 6^ 
LuZO 3 * 

Lul 55 , 
dn 4'*, 
dn6 5 '/*, 
dn8 3 * 3 * 

ditlO* 8 
dnll* 6 
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30 times. 



In upper diagram eon occurs 60 time; , lower (?Z, adj. 70 - \9Z in MX 



The eons of the eons, 4-0 times. 
The eon. of the cons, Z » 
The eon of the eon , % » 
The end of the eons, I 



// 



The eons to come, I time. 

For tfte eons , 7 times 

Before the eons I » 

The eons 4. from Z 6 » 



Thvs the noon always expresses limited time. The adjective agrees. 
3& This present dispensation. 



CHAPTER I 

HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, 

— wherefore also God highly exalted Him, 
and gave unto Him the name which is above 
every other name ; that in the name of 

SAVIOR 

every knee should bow. (Phil. 2:8.) 

He humbled himself. But man has misunderstood this attitude. 
In creature ignorance, pride and self-importance, He has been ma- 
ligned, and despised. "Unadorned, without honor, He was not re- 
spected, — nor sought or desired. Despised and neglected by men, a 
man in His sorrows acquainted with grief. (Isa. 53: 3.) "Ye have 
limited the Holy One of Israel." The way of salvation — Christ 
crucified, the power of God and the wisdom of God — is professed, 
but its adequacy is denied by resort to other means which seem more 
practical. "The Lamb, — that bore away the sin of the world," — 
this is made void by the common preaching of all Christendom, that, 
regardless of sin put away, the sinner must be punished. But it is 
said, "Of course, that is all right, everybody believes that, what is 
the matter with it?" The matter is, that it is a contradiction. For 
here are the very words that God commands shall be proclaimed on 
that point, "everybody" to the contrary though they be. "To wit, 
that God was in Christ reconciling the cosmos unto Himself, not 
charging their sins to them." Did you ever hear anybody preach 
this without reservations? "You have limited the Holy One of 
Israel," and have reduced the Gospel to a minimum, and then wonder 
that it has no power, and you ask God to give you some wonderful 
baptism that will bring the world to — (what?), and you charge upon 
God the responsibility of your carnal failure. What is this prayer 
that is heard on any and every occasion that "God would pour out 
his Spirit," and bring multitudes into a carnal church? The Holy 
Spirit will endorse the Divinely powerful gospel, though proclaimed 
by a weak messenger. But men pray that unscriptural ideas may be 
used to convert souls ; that a personal gift of power may do a mighty 
work; that God will act contrary to His dispensational program; 



8 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

and then charge God with holding back something that He could 
give just as well as not. No, "The Lord's hand is not shortened.' 1 
Men are slow to believe. 

If you are seventy years old you may have heard ten thousand 
prayers (figure it up yourself), any one of which, if granted, would 
have converted the world in a week. Estimate the many millions of 
these vain repetitions for personal power, and the rousing up of the 
Savior, and the pouring of the spirit upon unscriptural preaching and 
practice, and — act accordingly; — to your own Master you stand or 
fall. Did Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself? and do 
you believe it and proclaim it? 

He became "obedient unto death," even the death of the cross. 
Here is the end of the Adamic fall. This great landmark in the rela- 
tions of God and man indicates not only the depth of human sin, it is 
also the place of deepest humiliation reached by the Son of God. 
From this on the glories of his person are gradually unveiled, until at 
last there shines out "the glory which He had with the Father before 
the world was." "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the God- 
hood bodily." (Col. 2:9.) Resurrection declared him Son of God; 
the coming eon unveils him in Messianic office, administering justice; 
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Ps. 85 1 : 10, 99: 1-4.) 

A more glorious eon follows the Millennial reign, in which He is 
manifested as the Son of God, bringing a willing universe under the 
power of His love. "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw the Universe 
to Myself. (John 12: 32, ta panta, the all.) He made it; He says, 
It is mine. He will not forsake the work of His own hands. (Job 
12: 10, 14: 15; Ps. 138: 8, 95: 3-6.) The Living Word sent forth 
finishes His work; the eonian veil of humiliation is taken away; then, 
the epiphany of His Divine glory. Under His Headship there is a 
reconciled Universe. (Eph. 1:22, ta panta, the all) ; a perfected 
cosmos; a place for everything, and everything in its place, in which 
condition of order and beauty, every intelligent creature worships 
Him in the name that is exalted above King, above Priest, above 
Judge, above Lord, above any man-made counterfeit title, such as 
"Great moral Governor of the Universe." This last, intended to 
magnify Him, does but degrade Him from Minister of the Divine 
Gospel to an administrator of a law. The universe bows the knee 
to the SAVIOR GOD. (John 17:5; Col. 1 : 19, 2: 9; Rom. 1 : 1-4; 
Matt. 25 : 31 ; Col. 3:4; Phil. 3:21.) "According to the inward- 



HE HUMBLED HIMSELF 9 

working whereby He is able to subdue the Universe (ta panta, the 
all) to Himself." 

Isa. 55 : n, My Word — that goeth forth out of my mouth — 
shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which 
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

I Cor. 15 : 20-28, — then the end when He shall deliver up 
the Kingdom to God, even The Father — that God may be all 
in all. 

"Rev. 22: 13, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and 
the Last, the Beginning and the End. 

Heb. 11:3, The eons have been framed by the Word of God. 

These passages, with many others, indicate that the Living Word 
of God was "sent forth" with a program, which had a definite mes- 
sage; which had a beginning and an ending; the time of which was 
to be within five definite eons. Now this "Rock of Ages" (this 
eonian God, Isa. 26:4), in following out this eonian purpose, humbled 
Himself. His whole course from His first creative word until His 
work is delivered up, and His Godhood fully manifested, is one of 
humiliation, in that His Godhood is veiled; in that He, the Infinite, 
placed Himself within the limits of time and space, that he might 
deal graciously in exalting His finite creatures; in that though One 
with the Father who demands perfection, yet He must, through 
eonian times, be identified with a work in all stages of incompleteness, 
which was in that respect imperfect ; and which was not to be acknowl- 
edged until it had fully met the pleasure of the Sender. It is true, 
and blessedly true, that the cross was a finished work, but that was 
negative, the abolition of sin and death; it was destructive, not con- 
structive, and this is the basis of most important conclusions set forth 
in other chapters of this book. It is true also that the person of 
Christ was absolutely approved in the midst of a wicked and adulter- 
ous condition of Israel. But the constructive work of a reconciled 
Universe will not be endorsed until delivered up in satisfactory condi- 
tion. A universe with a modern hell in it must be contrary to what 
God has revealed of Himself. This sentiment, inferred from the ex- 
pressed character of the Divine nature, is scoffed at as sentimentality, 
but the fact remains that "God is Love." And the teaching of 
Christ will not be successful until that fact is learned. They shall 
all be taught of God, concerning God, and if any refuse to accept 
this teaching, for its surpassing worth, they will wallow around in 
sophistries of law, and preach endless torment by Love. Just analyze 



10 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

their efforts as some of them try to do this. For a comic supplement, 
their incongruous remarks would be good copy. Jesus said, My 
teaching is not Mine, but His that sent me (John 7 : 16, 8 : 28, 46, 47, 
12: 49, 14: 10, 24, 17: 8). There is no revelation in this "teaching" 
of a so-called "eternity." There is nothing revealed "before the eons" 
except the existence of "the unknown" God, and certain "purposes" 
that He had. There is no description of what is to follow when the 
purpose of the eons is accomplished. The consummation of the eons 
shows a most wonderful condition of things, and the inference must be 
that "they lived happily ever afterwards," but there is no description 
of definite activities. We infer, then, that all consideration of "end- 
less duration" is profitless, before the time. Indeed the multiplication 
table is more immediately practical. If, then, endless duration of 
time is not something that the Divine Teacher would have us learn, 
what is the theme and purpose of the eons? Well, here it is, "Christ 
also died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust, THAT 
HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD! (I Peter 3: 18), that you 
might have life in Christ, that you might know the only true God, 
and He whom He sent, Jesus Christ. He came to seek, to find, to 
save the lost. Who lost them? "All souls are mine." The purpose? 
— "Not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might 
be saved;" "by the Son of His Love — to reconcile the Universe (Col. 
1 : 20, ta panta, the all) unto Himself, having made peace through 
the blood of His cross." And in place of this, men would absurdly 
project their finite ideas of time and space into an infinity which 
belongs to God alone. "The secret things belong unto Jehovah, our 
God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our 
children for the eon {olam, Deut. 29:29). 

Limited space is defined by miles and leagues, but immeasurable 
space is subject to no such terms. Measures of time are expressed in 
years, centuries, and even eons, but there we stop ; none of these terms 
express endless duration, and it is infringing on the Infinity of God to 
attempt to make them measure the immeasurable; you see all we 
can do is to use a negative. Now God framed these five eons as the 
limit of time in which The Word, the text of Divine Revelation, is 
to educate His intelligent creatures. Man should not be "intruding 
on things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly 
mind." By an abuse of the word "eonian," men think they express 
this forbidden incongruity. But they must still conceive of things in 



HE HUMBLED HIMSELF II 

terms of time and space, and the attempt to put a positive meaning on 
the negative terms, endless, infinite, is a delusion which turns atten- 
tion from the God of Love to the mechanical tick-tock of the clock. 
In His last recorded utterance our Lord says, "I am the Alpha and 
the Omega." This is the whole alphabet of the Living Word. This 
present dispensation is an unannounced number on the Divine pro- 
gram, and its introduction is a surprise. 

In contrast to this unrevealed "Sempiternity" which the Son 
might claim for Himself by virtue of His equality with the Divine 
Sender (Phil. 2:6) He excludes it from the program of His venture, 
and, contrary to the common tradition, does not refer to it as having 
any present moral or spiritual value. He delivers up to the Father 
a Universe perfected within the allotted eonian times. 

As to these five eons, see diagrams. "This present evil eon" 
(Gal. 1:4) is easily seen by Berean searchers. "The eon to come" 
(Heb. 6:5) is recognized by prophetic students as the Millennium, 
That another eon follows the Millennium is involved in the plural, 
the eons of Eph. 2:Jj. Two eons also precede this present one. Peter 
speaks of the "ancient" cosmos, from Adam to Noah (II Peter 2:5), 
and the pre-Adamic, or "then," cosmos (II Peter 3: 6). That every 
cosmos has its eon is revealed by Eph. 2 : 2, "the eon of this cosmos" 
(confusedly rendered "course of the world" because in 161 1 the 
doctrine of the eons had not been elucidated). There is Scripture 
connected with each of these five eons, which needs to be thus rightly 
divided. Much of the chaos found in published views of eschatology 
would be removed if the two coming eons and their essential character 
and appropriate Scripture were differentiated. 

An eon is the period of germination, growth, or development, and 
maturity, of any progressive series of events, or of any living soul. 
"Everything has its eon," says Thomas De Quincey (Standard Dic- 
tionary, eon). So these five main Scripture eons show five periods of 
development in God's eonian purpose (Eph. 3: 11), the last one only 
showing a perfected and an acceptable conclusion. The others end 
in catastrophe. See. I Cor. 2: 7, "before the eons;" II Thess. 1 : 9 
and Titus 1 : 2, "The Eonian times;" I Cor. 10:11, "the ends of 
the eons;" Heb. 1 : 2, "He made the eons." 

This program of the eons had a beginning. "I am the beginning" 
— "The First-born of all Creation" — The Work of the Word has 
been progressive. It will have a culmination in the dispensation of 



12 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

the fulness of the seasons, in the Universal Headship of Christ 
(Eph. 1:9, 10, 22). Christ victorious! God became known! 

Since the days of the council of Nice (A. D. 325) Arius has had 
the very doubtful honor of godfather, furnishing a name for those 
who detract from the Divine glory of the Son, because they do not 
see beyond the veil of His humiliation. These Arians follow the 
father of pride, in denying the Oneness of God and His Word. Their 
spokesman says that the Son was an "instrument" and thus subordi- 
nate, therefore inferior in nature and dignity. Here is his argument 
which the natural man accepts readily enough. "The Father is a 
father; the Son is a son: therefore, the Father must [?] have existed 
before the Son; therefore, once the Son was not: therefore He was 
made, like all creatures of a substance that had not previously ex- 
isted." This is taken from Volume VII, said to be a posthumous 
publication of Pastor Russell's authorship. Thousands under his lead 
have fallen over this cheap argument. They do err, not knowing the 
Scriptures nor the power and wisdom of God. 



GOD — 

Absolute j Self-sufficient, Self-existent is 

THE UNKNOWN GOD. 



GOD, 

having created the Universe, the relation of the two must 
be recognized. This relationship is revealed from First to Last in 
terms of Fatherhood and Sonship. God's Son is the Creative Word 
which existed in God before utterance. His Word is one with God. 
This God in manifestation is not another God, for He can say, "I 
am God and there is none else." Read Isa. 45:23, 55:6-13; 
Matt. 24:35; I John 4: 14; John 3: 19, 4:42, 5:30, 6:38, 6:43-63, 
7: 16, 17, 8: 14; here is a temporary subordination, but oneness all 
the same. God hath spoken in many ways and forms, last of all He 
has spoken in Son (Heb. 1:2). Because God's utterance of Himself 
takes this outward form, it is none the less Himself. "I and my 
Father are one." Instead of caviling because "The Word" is thus 
seen, we should ask to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man 
that we might be able to comprehend; — and all this subordination 
of The Son is for our sakes. If we are willing to do His will we 
shall know of the doctrine, and thanks will take the place of doubt. 



HE HUMBLED HIMSELF 13 

The Heavens declare,- — All His Works show forth His glory, — 
the Bible, its human words purified seven times, is God speaking. But 
the Living Son of God from Alpha to Omega is the full utterance of 
God to His creatures; how can this be less than God? This is God 
making Himself known ; "No man knoweth the Father otherwise, but 
the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal Him;" NOT otherwise! 
Where will you find God outside of His Son? Since resurrection 
has demonstrated the Sonship of Christ, all things must be regarded 
in the light of that fact, and also of His present position in that 
character as Head of the new creation. He is exercising spiritual 
power to bring about the good pleasure of the Divine will. 

This wideness of outlook is to be seen in the following quotation 
from Peter Sterry, one of Cromwell's chaplains. "The growth of 
evil in man is thus, — Disorder before God, — contrariety to Him, — 
enmity against Him. So the opposition groweth higher and higher, 
till wrath swallow up the sin, the sinner, the shadows, and all of the 
first Adam ; when wrath itself is swallowed up in the grace and glory." 
"Both of these came to pass in the death and resurrection of the Second 
Adam, our Lord Jesus" (II, p. 446), and in a letter he says: "Jesus 
Christ, as the universal person, and Spirit in which all these subsisted, 
which alone truly subsisted in All, by dying, carried down the whole 
offending and polluted world into death; in that death all things 
are dissolved into their first principle, into the Divine Unity, into the 
Unity of the Eternal (eonian) Spirit; thus, all sins, sinners, wrath 
are swallowed up in the first unity of the Eternal (eonian) Spirit, 
which is the fountain of beauty, the fountain of Love" (II, p. 474). 

The Headships of Christ are an important part of revelation, and 
they cannot be ignored if one is searching for the whole truth on 
human destiny. 

I Cor. 11:3, But I would have you know, that the head of every 
man is Christ ; and the head of the woman is the man ; and the head 
of Christ is God. 

Col. 1:18, And He is the Head of the Body. 

Eph. 1 : 22, 4: 15, Head over the Universe (ta panta, the all). 

Col. 1: 15, 2: 10, First-born of all creation. 

Col. 1:18, First-born from the dead, that in all things He might 
have the pre-eminence ( Rev. 1:5). 

Rev. 3: 14, beginning (or head) of the creation of God. 

Rom. 8 : 29, First-born of many brethren. 



14 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Heb. i : 6, And when he shall have brought in again the First- 
born into the habitable earth, — 

I Cor. 15 : 20, 23, first fruits. 

"First-born," "First fruits," are words taken from the Law, and 
they are representative types fulfilled in Christ. Even the first word 
of Genesis is "By-Headships," the plural ignored in translation. 

Andrew Jukes called attention to this important doctrine (i860) 
and its bearing on God's way of redemption. That others have rec- 
ognized it is seen in the fact that the sixteenth impression of his 
book was made in 1904. But this is the way Robert Anderson 
greets it. First, he rightly sees in Jukes's work "a reverent and 
patient study of the Scriptures, to the sacredness and authority of 
which he gives a noble testimony; a writer who has the courage of 
his convictions, who, taking his stand upon the great sacrifice of Cal- 
vary, proclaims the Gospel of universal restoration (reconciliation, 
the Scripture word, is better). This is indeed to think noble deeds 
of God." He adds, "Who is there who would not crave to find a 
warrant for accepting it as true?" 

He then speaks of Jukes's use of the "first-born" as a signal in- 
stance of meanings attributed to Scripture that the reader never 
thought of. The author of "The Restitution of all things" points 
to the law of the first-born and the law of the first fruits as affording 
"the key to one part of the apparent contradiction between mercy 
upon all and yet the election of a little flock. The elect, though the 
first delivered, have a relation to the whole creation, which shall be 
saved in the appointed times by the first-born seed, that is by Christ 
and His Body" — "Passing by this extraordinary theory, this appeal to 
the types needs looking into, — the first fruits had no relation save to 
the harvest of the favored land, and the redemption of the first-born 
was side by side with judgment on the Egyptians, the tribes of the 
wilderness and the nations of Canaan. Therefore, while these types 
are a real difficulty in the way of those who would limit the redemp- 
tion to the Church of the first-born, they seem no less inconsistent 
with the author's own position. If types can be thus used at all, 
they establish the views of those who hold a place btween these two 
extremes. The sheaf of the first fruits, the wave loaves of Pentecost, 
and the great festival of harvest will have their dispensational ful- 
filment in the ever-widening circle of blessing upon earth; but if the 
final harvest will include the lost of previous dispensations, this must 



HE HUMBLED HIMSELF 1 5 

be established from other Scriptures, for there is nothing in the type 
to correspond with it." 

Anderson minimizes by confining his argument to first-born ones 
of Israel, but if he would look further he would see Christ as "the 
first-born of the Universe" — The First-born representative saved the 
family at the Passover. The Levitical tribe took the representative 
place for the Twelve tribes. 

"Israel is my first-born, only the earthly, but as first-born even 
though of the least loved wife, they must in their own sphere possess 
the double blessing, for they must yet bless the nations whose con- 
version is promised to Israel." This will be when by their acceptance 
of their risen Messiah they become a complete nation. 

"That the first elect and blessed are thus elect for the sake of the 
mass is also seen in the law of the firstlings of beasts, clean and un- 
clean. The lamb redeems the ass. The clean are called to sacrifice. 
This is the law of love." 

Though thus far limitations can be pointed out, yet the principle 
is widening in its scope. Now refer to Eph. 1 : 22, 23, where we have 
Christ "Head over the Universe," with his "Body" chosen in Him 
before the wreck of the cosmos. Here is a "Body" chosen for the 
highest place in the reorganization of creation. In the "exceeding 
riches of grace" we see even more than a double portion is given to 
this elect and First-born which has a universal ministry. This takes 
us beyond the human race, which is the sphere of Israel. The harvest 
of the earth is the result of Israel's 1,000 years' ministry to living 
nations, but the Heavenly body will take blessing to the great majority, 
who died in ignorance and unbelief ; they will see the perfected work 
of Christ in a reconciled Universe. Even suppose that this is not to 
be their sphere of service, yet Christ has means by which the victory 
shall be His. 

Though Anderson controverts Jukes, yet he says that " 'The 
Restitution of All Things' might with fairness be adopted as a hand- 
book in the controversy." An extract hardly treats the book fairly, 
yet here is one: — "What does the Law (Pentateuch) teach us of 
this First-born from the dead; (Christ, Col. 1 : 18) — for be it observed 
it is ever the first-born from the grave that the law speaks of, — 
therefore, the woman's, not the man's first-born, "the male which 
first openeth the womb" (Ex. 13: 12, 34: 19; Num. 3: 12; on him 
devolved the duty of Redeemer; (gaal) to redeem a brother who had 
2 



v 



1 6 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

waxen poor and sold himself unto a stranger; to avenge his blood; 
to raise up seed to the dead ; and to redeem the inheritance, if at any- 
time it were lost or alienated (Lev. 25:47, 48; Deut. 19:4-12; 
Gen. 38: 8; Deut. 25: 5-10; Ruth 4: 6-10; Lev. 25: 25; Ruth 2: 2, 3). 
To sustain these duties God gave him a double portion (Deut. 
21 : 17). Need I point out how Christ fulfils these particulars; how 
as first out of the grave, that barren womb which cries, "Give, give" 
(Prov. 30: 15, 16), He is the First-born through whom the blessing 
reaches us. In this sense no Christian doubts that God's purpose is 
by the First-born from the dead to save and bless the later born." — 
"Few even of the elect see that they are elect to this birthright 
obligation." 

"So in the law of the first fruits, the seed of nature figures the seed 
of the kingdom. The law here speaks of a double first fruits. The 
first, the sheaf offered at the feast of unleavened bread. The other, 
offered in the form of leavened cakes, fifty days later, at Pentecost. 
The Passover ears were called Rashith, the cakes at Pentecost Bi- 
courim, to which the gospel agrees, saying, "Christ, the first fruits," 
"Christ, the first-born," and "the Church of first-born ones," — words 
which carry blessing, "for if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also 
holy." 

There is a Theology not yet dead, which has the Savior elect the 
first-born to be saved, and condemns all the rest to hell, to the 
hell of Plato, of Tertullian, of Augustine, of Thomas, of Dante, 
of Calvin, to the hell imagined in the ignorance of gospel and un- 
belief in Christ's power, which is found in the publications of Church 
Societies and Bible Institutes, such as, "Is there a literal hell," 
"the hereafter of sin," and in the systematic theology of Shedd, 
Haley, Edwards, Emmons, and most of the sects. Scripture does 
not say that the first-born only shall be saved, but that with a double 
portion they serve to make the promise true that in Abraham's seed 
and in Sarah's first-born by supernatural power, all families of the 
earth shall be blessed. What poverty-stricken expedients are resorted 
to to "limit the Holy One of Israel" by belittling this word. 

This typical teaching is followed up by noting that the Sabbatic 
year was for the release of all Israel, and that on the Jubilee all the 
inhabitants of the land were delivered. 1 Cor. 15:28 tells us that all 
things shall be subject to Christ, and Col. 1 : 20 tells us that all 
things shall be reconciled to God. 



HE HUMBLED HIMSELF I J 

Christ, "The Son of The Father's Love," was First-born of all 
creation, and thus its responsible representative, the whole unified 
under His Headship. He identified Himself with it in Spirit, and 
even in body; that holy thing that was born of Mary being built out 
of its matter. In this humiliating identity he voluntarily fulfilled 
the part of First-born, and under law "becoming sin for us" 
(II Cor. 5) went down into death. By this one act of its responsible 
Head, the race paid the one only Scriptural penalty for sin. Since the 
resurrection of Christ, Law has been "done away" and with the law 
sin was "done away" and death has been "made void" as a penalty 
for sin. They, who would preach truth, are charged to say that "God 
was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging their 
sins unto them." II Cor. 5 : 14-21, "For we thus judge that if Christ 
died for all, then all died!" 

This high note of Scriptural truth is strangely rare in the argument 
of opposing theologians. In an attempt to establish a teaching, we 
would expect to see the best evidences brought out. There must be 
ignorance or carelessness, if not worse, thus to neglect God's Word. 
From Origen on one side and Augustine on the other down, there is 
little to be found on the First-born responsibility and Headship of 
Christ, and nothing in the way of a consistent Biblical doctrine of 
the eons. "Eonian" was appealed to, more as a prop to a theory than 
as the foundation for an obedient faith. Robert Anderson, though 
a keen writer, simply says: "Passing by the extraordinary theory" — 
and there you are. If intelligent, earnest Bible students can thus 
"pass by" such valuable helps, no wonder the truth is still under a 
cloud. Vicious ecclesiastical envy is today a hindrance equaled only 
in the case of those magnates who put their Messiah to death. Ander- 
son has shown this up in his book, "The Bible or the Church," where 
he recognizes that every organized religious body that ever existed 
has been the enemy of the truth. Stephen testified of the Jewish 
Church that they rejected Moses, that from the golden calf to the very 
martyrdom of the speaker they did always resist the Holy Spirit. 
And it is only necessary to ask, "What has been responsible for the 
murder of millions of Christian witnesses, for inquisitions, and ex- 
communications, from Diotrephes, who would not receive the Apostle 
John, to the church attitude of the present day?" There is a diaboli- 
cal watchfulness of the "systems" lest the truth should be spoken by 
someone outside the pale; a heresy hunting which does not care for 



1 8 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

heresy against truth so much as it does for the least touch on ecclesi- 
astical sore spots. 

On one side some noble testimony has been gathered from Scrip- 
ture advocating "Restoration," but the very word used is below the 
key when we have the term, "reconciliation of the Universe" 
(Col. i : 20, ta panta, the all). Of these we have Origen, the first 
comprehensive Bible student (253), Gregory Nyssa, a defender of 
the Council of Nice (395), William Law (1766), Erskine (1870), 
Bishop Ewing (1873), Andrew Jukes (1867). See lists in Farrar's 
"Mercy and Judgment" and Plumptre's "Spirits in Prison." These 
books made a stir half a century ago, in spite of Church of England 
handicap. But all they gave us with much learning and eloquence 
was only a "hope" that hell is not so bad as it is painted. The latest 
writers, who have apparently profited by all this, and who have boldly 
given original and scholarly lead in Bible searching, are V. Gelesnoff, 
and A. E. Knoch of Los Angeles ( 1908- 1920) . The latter is publish- 
ing a new and valuable Concordant Version of the Holy Scriptures. 

On the so-called orthodox side, with its exaggerated descriptions 
of torment in endless hell, are such as Augustine (A. D. 430), 
Dante (1321), Calvin (1564), Edwards (1758), John Foster 
(1843), These were predestinarian, which was right enough if con- 
fined to Scripture, but they added the false idea of "reprobation," 
which was about as poisonous as a typhoid germ. Nathaniel Emmons, 
in theological zeal without knowledge, says, "It is absolutely necessary 
to approve of the doctrine of reprobation in order to be saved." 

All argument that appeals to the relative numbers of saved or lost 
is unworthy of the subject; though men and theologians of all kinds 
are guilty on this count. "Lord, are there few that be saved?" 
The Lord did not say yes or no. What he did do was to call at- 
tention to the entrance into the Millennial Kingdom, which was the 
immediate issue. There are some who would dislocate the answer 
and make it apply to the perfected work of Christ, thus impugning 
that perfection. Is it not a shameful thing that a false predestina- 
rianism should count in the infant dead, and so make a majority of 
saved? This says that if evil had fair play it would win more 
souls than Christ. Is this glad tidings of great joy? The character 
of God is not to be aspersed by such ideas. If one intelligent crea- 
ture, who was loved in his creation, redeemed from his fallen condi- 
tion, taught of God, raised from the dead, is to suffer future penalty 



HE HUMBLED HIMSELF 19 

for sin, light or heavy, we may well ask the question, why? and 
exercise our spiritual perceptions over the problem. As an act of God 
it must reflect His character, and the whole work of Christ is to 
make God known to the universe. When the purpose of the eons is 
realized, that will show what was in the mind of God before eonian 
times. How feeble and futile the contention that ignores this, and 
consigns vast multitudes to a horrible hell, and this by self-deter- 
mination alone; thus fatuously apologizing for the Creator. 

Now without denying the apparent contradictions in our 
English translation, Faith says there must be a satisfactory intel- 
ligible solution. 

Was God's purpose to be thwarted by the ignorance, the unbe- 
lief, the sin, the free-will, of His creature? The potter breaks the 
clay that he has formed and remolds to his own pleasure. God's plan 
shows, in every form of life, that death, judgment, destruction, 
wrath against ignorant and rebellious opposition, precede his final 
accomplishment; — life out of death, not death destroying the life. 
Was this an afterthought? Is it asked, Why? It is for the gradual 
education of intelligent creatures. Is not this sufficient answer, when 
we read, "They shall all be taught of God"? Was there not fore- 
knowledge and a specific object in making His living Word, His Son, 
the first-born of All Creation, God manifest in the flesh? and having 
Him taste death for every man? Making Him first-born from the 
dead, Head of a new creation which He delivers up to The Father, 
who then endorses its perfection, becoming "God all in all"? Why 
take Eden as the first element in this problem, when we have the 
claim of Jesus on record, "I am the beginning and the ending"? 
But, after all, "A man can receive nothing except it be given from 
above." (John 3 127; I Cor. 2: 9-1 1.) 

Cain comes before Abel, Nimrod before Abraham, Ishmael be- 
fore Isaac, Esau before Jacob, Saul before David, Antichrist and 
the Day of Wrath before Christ and the Millennial blessing. Yes! 
The destruction of all evil before the establishment of all good. Sin 
reigned in death before men saw the reign of grace, of righteousness, 
and life the gift of God. If grace does not save, punishment or 
discipline never will. Purgatory does not purify. The glory of 
Jesus saved Saul. The glory of the Son of Man will convert some 
in the Millennial reign; the glory of the Son of God will bring in 
all not saved during seven preceding chiliads. (Isa. 66: 8-19.) 



CHAPTER II 
THE PERSONAL EQUATION 

A chief engineer must rely upon data collected by subordinates. 
These run levels, stake out boundaries, estimate quantities. Acting 
on these details, allowance must often be made for what is called 
the personal equation. Temperament, experience, and habitual 
methods will vary in small items, and a combination of a large 
number of these may seriously affect the result upon which action 
is to be based. 

Published results of Bible study are necessary if there is to be 
mutual helpfulness, but spiritual perception must weigh these human 
utterances before accepting them. They do not deal with inanimate 
matter as the builder does, and they are also fragmentary. We see 
the exact truth perverted by many things, — temperamental, emo- 
tional, intellectual, sensual, social, racial, official, sectarian, sacra- 
mental, legal, educational, traditional, egoistic. The grade runs 
from the high-church sacramentarian, through sects wide and narrow, 
to an ordinary human being ; who may be of the unchurched masses, 
but who stands by faith on the common ground of grace, unin- 
fluenced by any earthly institution but the family; with no member- 
ship, official or lay, in any earthly society, religious, political, or 
scientific; with no fear of excommunication; with no reputation to 
gain or to lose; satisfied with the spiritual fellowship of those who 
love God and His Word. There are those who believe in that 
heavenly "Body" of Christ mentioned in Eph. 1 : 22. This Body 
is the symbol of that perfect organization which has Christ Jesus 
for its "Head," and for its only official. The members are unified 
in Him, all in the equality and liberty of grace. Individual members 
are not to be appealed to as "authorities" in church government, or 
in doctrine. The Bible is the authoritative utterance of Divine 
Truth. 

This "personal equation" becomes comparatively negligible in 
the Scripture writers; to be taken into account as far as outward 
form and literary style is concerned, but not for anything that is 
authoritative. The accuracy of Divine utterance is assured by the 
Divine Author, not by the human channel. Just so, God was 
manifest in the flesh of that Holy thing that was born of Mary. 

20 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 21 

Uncertainty in Bible reading is found, not in its language, but in 
the possible inaccuracy of our perceptions. 

Here is an application of the idea. In the generation that ended, 
say A. D. 1880, there were writers of natural ability, and years of 
literary and theological training, who made famous protest against 
pyromaniacal exaggerations of hell-fire. They condemned with 
vigor, and rightly, lurid descriptions of endless pains, physical and 
mental, which were to endure endlessly with ever-increasing in- 
tensity, as the retribution demanded by a human intuitive sense of 
justice. Many writers from Tertullian down were quoted, 
describing the execution of these tortures at the hand of God. 
Rhetorical flights, which lost some of their offensiveness by their very 
pose as "thrillers," were shown to be perversions of Scripture, in 
translation, exegesis, homiletics, and dogmatic assertion. Of these 
protesters were Dean Plumptre, who wrote "Spirits in Prison;" 
Canon Farrar, with his "Eternal Hope" and "Mercy and Judg- 
ment;" Maurice, Kingsley, and others of the Church of England. 
Readers recognized the fervid indignation of their protests, the 
finished scholarship, the diligent research, — but, a "Dissenter" would 
miss the note to which evangelicalism is attuned. Regeneration seems 
to cut no figure in their argument; and then it occurs to him, — of 
course, — these writers all believe in baptismal regeneration. A little 
sacramental water, of which they have no memory, could not have 
the influence upon the habit of the mind and language that the 
intensity of an act of belief and an experience of conversion would. 
At this time also Pusey and Newman wrote. They were advocates 
of the future retribution for sin by the endless torments of hell, and 
though they were inclined to modify its cruelty, yet they bore this 
sacramental "yoke," in common with nine-tenths of the writers on 
this subject, whichever side they advocate. 

They wrote about it under the theological term of "Retribution," 
and strictly on the basis of law, justice and penalty. Now "the 
personal equation" of this legal position must be taken into account, 
if you are to profit by any of this literature. The subject may and 
should be considered outside the limits of the Thirty-nine Articles. 
A strictly legal decision, though logically and theologically main- 
tained, is in error in that it is "in part" only; it omits matter vital 
to the issues of the case. A partial truth is a lie. Is God to be 
restricted to the functions of a legal officer in His judgments? 



22 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Ps. 99:1-4, "Jehovah reigneth, — The King's strength also loveth 
justice, Thou dost establish equity; Thou executest justice and 
righteousness in Jacob." Now a king establishes justice in a wider 
sphere than the judge in a court of law; he takes into account other 
principles, and a wider range of interests in His decisions. But far 
above these, God's final adjustment of Universal Cosmos involves 
every consideration that can affect any creature or any Divine purpose. 

Are we to argue, then, about an unlimited future, and decide 
God's interests on a strictly legal plane? Or even on a kingly plane? 
Should we not recognize that "when the judgments of Jehovah God 
are in the earth, the people will learn righteousness?" What is 
righteousness? — Righteousness is conformity to standard. What is 
the Divine standard? — The Bible reveals several standards. Have 
you talked about justice without knowing what these standards are, 
and how attained? If so, confess with Job, "I have uttered that 
which I understood not" (42:3). We must make allowance when 
we listen to these churchmen, and note the strictly legal limitation 
of their arguments. We are not to accept their conclusions as if 
they were based on royal prerogative, or Divine omniscience. 

We must be on our guard against false reasonings and unfair 
statements in evidence offered. To disparage the advocate of "the 
reconciliation of the Universe," we hear these words ascribed to them 
in a sneering tone, "God is too good and loving to punish people." 
It is unfair to imply that any intelligent person would say this. The 
sentence is false in this respect, and, what is worse, it insinuates that 
no inference is to be drawn from the nature of God. These same 
cavilers draw inferences from God's justice. "Shall not the Judge 
of all the earth do right?" — Yes. But we read that "God is Love." 
This is a revelation of His nature, and it is the mission of Christ 
Jesus to make this nature known. It is sophistical to question the 
propriety of drawing an inference from this blessed fact. But to 
belittle this unwelcome evidence, it is called "sentimentality." An 
endless hell of torment is an inference, not from the nature of God, 
but from man's demand for the vindication of justice, — a demand 
that denies that justice was vindicated at the cross, and this for the 
Universe, and in a manner that has the sanction of God's approval 
in the fact of resurrection. We must not admit that justice is the 
only Divine principle from which we are to draw conclusions as to 
human destiny. 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 23 

And, furthermore, is one's testimony to be "passed by" because 
he accepts for fact the simple statements, — "taketh away the sin of 
the world," "Christ has been manifested to put away sin by His 
sacrifice;" "He that is dead is freed from sin" (Rom. 6:7); "The 
wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6: 23) ; "Christ died for all, therefore, 
all died" (II Cor. 5 : 14-20) . Robert Anderson writes in his "Human 
Destiny," p. 153, "Where does Scripture teach that everlasting 
(eonian) torment is the penalty of sin? DEATH is the penalty 
of sin." . . . "Sins penalty has indeed been borne by Christ. 
His resurrection was the public proof that every claim of righteousness 
was satisfied; . . . "but this did not include the consequences 
of rejecting the atonement."* 

This "sin" of endless unbelief is a constantly recurring idea in the 
discussion of this question. It is a bowing down to the idol of 
"free-will" that is made pre-eminent over the soul of man, and over 
the power of God. It is an assumption, necessary to the argument, 
but unscriptural, that man (one, at least) will reject, they say, 
"finally." They are caught in their own word, for how can there 
be a finality to endlessness? Which again shows that "endlessness" 
is too big a word for present use. If the reader will keep the phrase 
in mind he will see the pervading presence of "the personal equation" 
in all human utterances and the constant necessity to have in view 
but one aim, that is the truth. If, then, the human bias can be 
estimated for what it is worth, the false rejected and the true seized 
upon, we will be tending towards the Unity of the Faith. (But if 
you "bite and devour one another," what will be the result?) 

The intellectual habit forms the straight-jacket of systematic 
theology which limits God. The emotional bias leads to fanaticism, 
the social element prepares the world for Antichrist, the sacramental 
lure repeats the incident of the golden calf, the racial prejudice is 
responsible for the blindness of Israel; official pride makes Doctors 
of Divinity take the seat of authority that belongs to Christ the Lord, 
and especially, let us repeat, the legal bent is largely responsible for 
falsifications in translation that foist the idea of everlasting punish- 
ment for sin upon the Word of God. This book is an attempt 
to point out the truth and deliver some from this "legal snare" 

•"Atonement." — The theological use made of this word is so comprehensive that 
its Scripture use is lost to us without a special study. Anderson uses it in the 
Ashdodish way, which has overloaded it. In Scripture it is a strictly Old Testament 
word. Sin was "covered" by the sacrifice of animals. At the cross, sin was "put 
away," not "covered." 



/ 



24 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

(II Tim. 2: 26), — "and if our gospel is veiled it is veiled by those 
things (en tois) that are done away, by which (en tois) the God of 
this eon hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of 
the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should 
not dawn upon them (II Cor. 4: 3, 4). Now that which was "done 
away" is set forth in the third chapter as the law. 

The doctrine of future punishment for sin is based exclusively upon 
law, and no one can hold it who is free from legal bondage. Yes, 
believer, you may be standing in the liberty of grace wherewith 
Christ has made you free, but you are preaching law, and holding 
out penalties of law to others. Grace then is all right for you, but 
it would hardly do to trust everybody with it; they might abuse it. 
Now if this is not true in your case it won't hurt you; but if you 
squirm, it is possible that a sore spot has been touched; look to it! 
"For we can do nothing against the truth;" even the wrath of man 
shall praise Him; yes, even prejudice, partizanship, tradition, faith- 
lessness, slowness, self-aggrandizement, etc. "The Teacher sent 
from God" is patiently bringing in His light and His truth, and 
all these elements of evil are passing away; until it shall be said, 
"They are no more." 

Is it not possible that the teacher of systematic theology is biased 
by his dignity, his authority, his "chair," his salary, his Dictatorial 
Degree, so that all criticism is squelched and the infallibility of the 
system maintained? 

The personal equation in the written Word is the Divine "Living 
Word" of God, Who makes its statements infallible, Who gives us 
a hope, Who tests all defects. In time "the crooked shall be made 
straight." Happily we can trust Divine personality without a question. 
But, the translator, the human medium who writes from Moses to 
Paul, the ancient language fixed, the modern language changing, — 
these demand patient investigation. There is need of mutual for- 
bearance and helpfulness, and yet we hear such words as this: 
"damnable doctrine from the pit of Hell," "condemned in Scripture 
from Genesis to Revelation." At the same time it is confessed that 
there is not to be found in the Old Testament one word on endless 
future punishment, while in Isa. 45 we read, "Look unto Me and 
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is 
none else. By Myself I have sworn, the word is gone forth from 
My mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto Me 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 25 

every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear," or as Ferrar Fenton 
renders it, — 

"I swear by Myself, and the unchanging truth left My mouth, 
To Me all knees shall bend, and all tongues shall confess. 
To the Lord belongs righteousness and Power and Honor, 
Come on, and bow down, all you haters of Him, — 
In the Lord [Jehovah] become righteous, and glory in 
Israel's race." 

Here follow various assertions. Which are true? Which false? 

Samuel Cox says of Eon and Eonian, "These words, so far from 
denoting either that which is above time, or that which will outlast 
time, are saturated through and through with the thought and ele- 
ment of time." 

Robert Anderson says of Eon and Eonian, "The scholarship of 
Christendom has recognized that they are used to express eternity 
in the fullest sense." 

F. W. Farrar says "Hell" is used for Hades in the New Testa- 
ment. In no case does Hades mean "hell." Concerning Sheol, he 
says that it "is a term as opposite to hell as light to darkness." 

W. G. T. Shedd says, "That Sheol is a fearful punitive evil, 
mentioned by the sacred writers to deter men from sin, lies upon the 
face of the Old Testament, and any interpretation that essentially 
modifies this must therefore be erroneous." 

This might be stereotyped, "What I don't know and can't make 
out is mysterious and unknowable." 

Andrew Jukes met this, and his book, "Restitution of All Things," 
opens with an illustrative incident from the Sunday-school. The 
lesson spoke of David walking on the roof of his house, when a boy 
whose attention was fixed on the steep roofs of the vicinity, said: 
"But, teacher, how could David walk on the roof of a house?" 
The teacher, calling on dogmatism to save his dignity, gave this reply : 
"Don't grumble at the Bible, boy!" Whereon another teacher 
whispered, "The answer to the difficulty is, 'With men it is impossible, 
but not with God, for with God all things are possible.' " 

"A proof that Sheol is the proper name for Hell in the Old 
Testament is the fact that there is no other proper name for it in the 
whole volume, — for 'Tophet' is metaphor." — Shedd. 

Robert Anderson: "It is appointed unto men once to die, and 
after death [the*] judgment." "But the penalty of sin must follow 

*No article in the Greek text. 



26 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

the judgment; and not precede it. The death, therefore, which is 
the penalty of sin, cannot be 'natural death.' " Here is the lawyer 
and the logician; his preconceived idea of judgment is that of a 
criminal court. But the sentence upon Adam was not carried out. 
Christ, the representative Head, took upon himself the responsibility, 
continued Adam in life, and by his own death paid all penalty for 
all sin of the race. " Judgment" to come cannot in that case be a 
penalty imposed on the sinner. Where is the strabismus here? 
Ignorance marks the one or the other. He that hath eyes to see, 
let him see. 

Here are some other things that Anderson says: 

"Scripture assumes the continued existence of the Adam life; 
the resurrection is a proof of it." This is bad. It is only in Christ 
that all are to be made alive. Resurrection is a proof of Divine 
sonship in Rom. 1 : 1-4, and Luke 20: 36. In Adam all die. 

"Judgment and Hell are themselves overwhelming proof of it." 
But such a judgment and hell are first to be proved themselves. 

"The crowning proof of it is redemption achieved at a cost so 
priceless." But redemption takes us all out of Adam, and makes 
us all to be in Christ. 

Gen. 11:3: "And they had brick for stone, and slime had they 
for mortar." 

"The day is past when God could plead with men about their 
sins. The controversy now is not about a broken law, but a rejected 
Christ." "If judgment, therefore, be our portion, it must be meas- 
ured by God's estimate of His Son." 

"There must be some moral necessity why evil, once existing, 
should continue to exist. Otherwise the presence of the serpent in 
Eden, and all the dismal facts of human history would be inex- 
plicable." But really now, what does this mean? 

"Damnable" is not swearing, but it is strong enough to relieve 
the feelings, and many are tempted to use it. Mark 16: 16: "He that 
believeth not shall be damned," and that settles it. "God has con- 
cluded all in unbelief" that he might damn them all? But where 
are the saved people to come from if not from the ranks of these 
damned? This word is corrected in the Revision. John 3: 36: "He 
that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God 
abideth on him." Saul of Tarsus says, "He acted in ignorance and 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 27 

unbelief," and for that reason did the wrath of God abide on him? 
Was there no hope for him? 

Luke 16:23-31 "shows us there is such a place as hell." Why 
persist in this when the Revised Version says Hades is not hell ? And 
why use a parable when it is not understood, and when references to it 
wrest the Scripture from its proper dispensational place? 

Mark 9: 43, 44, As Gehenna is not hell, why make it mean so? 
Gehenna is thus perverted and made to mean something other than 
what the Lord said. 

Matt. 25 : 32-46: Why should one who knows that this is a 
judgment of living nations before the Millennial reign of Christ, 
apply it to postmillennial conditions where the dead are to be raised? 
The "eonian life" of that judgment is the eonian life promised and 
looked for as a fulfilment of the covenant, and neither denies nor 
affirms anything else. The "eonian punishment" is the discipline 
of the unbelieving for the next eon, or for the next two eons. 
Matt. 7: 13, 14: The "straight gate" into that eonian life is through 
the narrow way of the great tribulation, and indeed few will find it. 
The "broad way" is the way of submission to the anti-Christian 
brand, and the "many" of Israel enter it. The Millennium fulfils 
covenant conditions, but its description is not a description of the 
consummation of the eons. (Rev. 20: 1-5.) 

"The Lake of Fire." The definite article points out that this is 
known to the readers addressed. Why hastily conclude that this 
is eternal hell until you know what it is from Scripture? If you are 
going to take away from the meaning of the words of this book, it is 
as bad as taking away the words themselves. 

It is perversion of Scripture to make Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, and 
the Lake of the Divine Fire, — all to mean a modern English "hell;" 
to make kolasis } "discipline," mean penalty; to make eonian mean 
everlasting. "Why retort that the meaning of "hell" is taken away? 
Hell is not an inspired Bible word ; it is ancient and modern English, 
and can mean whatever English usage makes it, but it is not the 
equivalent of any Hebrew or Greek word found in Scripture. 

"A logical hell is based on legal retribution." 

The Lord did not deny the truth of Scripture when the tempter 
quoted it, — but he did say, it is written again, — and what he used 
was in the proper connection. Was the Scripture that the Devil 
brought forward true? — Yes. Was it applicable to the case? — No. 



28 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Satan did not rightly divide the word. Where one Scripture is made 
to contradict another, the "father of lies" has a son born. A Scripture 
out of place is the basis of error. The Law, brought into this dis- 
pensation, is out of place. 

Yes! Peter says, "There shall be false teachers who shall privily 
bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought 
them." Now how is a belief in Col. 1 : 20 to be made a denial of 
the Lord, and a damnable heresy from the pit of hell? "It was the 
good pleasure [of the Father] that in Him should all fulness dwell, 
and through Him to reconcile the Universe unto Himself, having 
made peace through the blood of the cross." 

In the Cross of Christ is the Power to deliver, the Wisdom to 
satisfy the mind ; it meets the Jew and the Greek ; the heart and the 
head of the old humanity, the heart seeking signs of power, the head 
seeking light. Is it not pitiful that sneers should meet a reference to 
the love of God and His Grace? Are not His Wisdom, Love and 
Power to be manifested as truly as His Righteousness? Why does 
the mind seize upon retribution for the sinners, and value so little the 
establishment of righteousness, first by his penal death in the office 
of first-born, and again by his Millennial reign? 

Hell, a logical hell, not an exaggerated hell, is an imaginary place, 
which might have been a reality if the Savior was not all-sufficient; 
but to introduce endlessness is to project an idea of time or space 
into the secret of God which has no such condition. 

Taking in account, then, the "personal equation" in the writings 
of our fellow-men, we must correct all distortion, and be on our 
guard against imperfect impressions. We also should recognize the 
Divine personal authority of the Word of God, which assures us 
that we have the utterances of truth without error, without adultera- 
tion. We may also note the human writers, but here its influence is 
seen in the outward form of literary style, which, however, conforms 
to the varied subject. 

And consider as truly as you can your own possibilities, as a 
hearer, as a searcher after truth, your own colored glasses. With 
the Scriptures considered from a thousand viewpoints, what is the 
effect of your own? Many stand on Mt. Sinai. Do you? Many 
have their gaze on Calvary's cross who see no Olivet. Many are 
"looking steadfastly up into Heaven;" some are waiting for another 
"Pentecost;" some in Jerusalem, in Samaria, in Antioch where they 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 29 

were first called Christians, some in the churches in Asia, some in "the 
church which is His Body far above all principality — the fulness of 
Him that filleth all in all." Those who understand this last to be 
the only proper place from which to view the Universe of God in 
all its relations, for the believer of this present dispensation, are 
waiting to be "called up on high" (tes ano kleseos, the calling above, 
and this "on high" is located in Col. 3:1, "seek the things above, — 
ano, — where the Christ is sitting at the right hand of God"). Those 
who are waiting to be "caught up — in the air" must expect to see 
things from that uncertain place only, at least temporarily. Those 
who take a place that they call the "Bride of Christ" (though that 
expression is not to be found in the Bible) will certainly view things 
from that feminine point of view. They will "keep silent in the 
church and consult their husband Christ at home, they will not teach, 
etc.," according to Scripture. The Christ, Head and Body, is male, 
not female, and in elect headship will teach, etc. All this is to 
emphasize the importance of intelligent assurance as to one's own 
proper place in God's Cosmos. Judas was out of place in the 
Apostolate. He will be found in his own proper niche at last. His 
point of view was wrong. 

Assertion is no part of argument or persuasion, and may be skipped 
unless you recognize its basis. But assertion may be indulged in for 
the sake of brevity as an "aside" to those with knowledge and 
sympathy enough to endorse the sentiment. Those who are in the 
truth of the prayer (Eph. 1: 17-23), far above earthly things, need 
little persuasion to give attention to dispensational truth. If you 
do not see what follows, pass it by, and give yourself to the study of 
Romans until "grace" assumes its due proportion, then take up the 
"exceeding — riches — of grace," (John 5 : 46, 47.) 

"The Son of His Love"— "He is the Head of the Body, the 
Church." This is no "bride," there are none such in Heaven; the 
"bride" is on earth, you will find her in I Corinthians, which says 
more about woman than any other book in the Bible, except Luke 
and Genesis, even as you will hardly find a feminine word in the 
first four chapters of Ephesians. The "perfect man" is found in 
Ephesians; the "perfect woman," in I Corinthians. 

The "exceeding" wonder of that Heavenly organism is indicated 
by the fact that every believer of this dispensation was "chosen" in 
Christ before the wreck of the first cosmos, and the revelation in the 



30 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

first chapter of Ephesians, that the same Power that energized in 
Christ the Head, raising Him from the dead, and seating Him above, 
is working with the same energy in every member of the body to 
perfect that organism in its exalted place. Contrary to the teaching 
of all religions, that body is the only part of humanity that has a 
heavenly destiny; "the earth was made for the children of men." 
As, in the exceeding riches of His Grace, the Head of this Body has 
all the credit, the members look neither for reward nor punishment. 
"For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ, 
Who is your life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him 
be manifested, in glory." Let us maintain our own proper viewpoint. 
"Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife," yes, and in a place 
where "to his own Master he standeth or falleth." As to the reader, 
he alone is responsible, according to his light, to abhor that which is 
evil, and to cleave to that which is good. "Take heed how you hear." 
The Scripture revelation of this heavenly body is preceded by the 
truth of individual reconciliation as set forth in Romans 5, and 
II Cor. 5. In Colossians "Reconciliation" is developed to take in the 
Universe. Preceding these teachings on the reconciliation of enemies, 
uncovenanted, we have, in Rom. 3: 21-26, the Righteousness of God 
established as the one foundation in grace for this further grace. 
This whole teaching is "apart from law"— -"being justified freely by 
His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The Jews 
had a zeal for God, but seeking it in outward ritual found it not. 
The Gentile went astray with his natural religion. They had no 
zeal; they followed not after righteousness as the Jews did, but they 
attained it by appropriating the gift of God by faith. Righteousness 
carried with it the gift of life; the end of the law was death. "For 
we thus judge, that One died for all, therefore all died." Passages 
like this lose their force unless the Headship of Christ is kept in mind. 
"The head of the woman is the man, and the Head of the man is 
Christ, and the Head of Christ is God." The head unifies the 
organization, living or corporate, with which it is identified, and 
insures order and harmonious action. See the "First-born" in Exodus 
and the first fruits, representative and sample of the whole. Col. 1:15 
calls "the Son of His Love" the "First-born of all creation." This 
is an official title; it is not confined to humanity, but takes in angels, 
demons, and a groaning creation, animate and inanimate. 

When the First-born of all creation died, the whole old creation 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 31 

died in its representative Head. This death paid the full penalty 
of all sin. Sin has no recognition on Resurrection Ground ; it is a 
past issue, a closed incident. "He that is dead is freed from sin." 
"The wages of sin is death." Why say you believe this, and keep 
on preaching law and sin ? Since the resurrection of Christ no act of 
sin is charged to the account of any human being. "Not charging 
their trespasses unto them" (II Cor. 5: 19). You are told to preach 
this. Did you ever do it? 

Col. 1:18, "He is the Head of the Body, Who is the Beginning, 
the First-born from the dead." Col. 2: 19, "the Head, from Whom 
all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and 
bands, increaseth with the increase of God." Eph. 1 : 22, 23, Head 
over all things (ta panta, the all, the Universe) to that Church which 
is His body. As Messiah, King of Israel, He is their Divine repre- 
sentative Head in a covenant relation, entered into at Sinai. From 
this He has not withdrawn, and in this He has and will prove faithful. 
"I am Jehovah, thy God" is a guarantee that "all Israel shall be 
saved" for though the law says, "Cursed is every one who continueth 
not in all things written in the law to do them," yet it is written 
again, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, having 
become a curse for us." (Gal. 1 : 10, 13.) 

"The Word became flesh" — yes; in that holy thing born of Mary, 
the Head of the Universe became a part even of its matter. Headship 
involves oneness and responsibility. In the headship of the Word, 
the Son of God, the Universe, mineral, vegetable, animal and spirit- 
ual, is one, and it falls and rises as one in and by the living power 
of its Head. 

To some extent we can discern our own bias, and we should guard 
against its undue influence. We little know our deficiencies. Because 
others see these clearly is no reason why that which is profitable for 
edifying should be slighted. We will arrive at "the Unity of the 
Faith" sooner if we work together. William Tyndale, original 
translator of our English Bible, in his preface admonishes those who 
follow him to correct errors of translation when discovered. Now 
nearly four centuries after he was strangled and burned by Church 
and State for this most valuable service, there remain many things 
to be corrected. Revision, and re-revision, and reverent scholarship 
but emphasize the fact that the visible religious organization is the 
enemy of vital truth. From the golden calf at Sinai to the generation 
3 



32 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

that crucified the Living Truth, they were characterized by Stephen 
as "always resisting the Holy Spirit;" and from Diotrephes to the 
creed-confined sects of this evening of the sixth Adamic Millennium, 
the indictment holds. Looking forward, Paul says, "After my 
departing— from among yourselves shall men arise, speaking perverse 
things." The first faint glimpse of Church history after Bible times, 
after a blank of fifty years, shows it, as the so-called "Teaching of 
the Twelve" evidences. The blood of martyrs will continue to be 
shed, murdered by a body that boasts the banner of the cross. Our 
Lord said concerning the Scriptures, "These are they which bear 
witness of Me." He was speaking to the great Bible students to whom 
He had said, "Ye have not the Word of the Father abiding in you." 
There were never more copies of the Bible in the world than in this 
year 1920 A. D. ; but without the obedience of faith, now as then. 

If we are building a doctrine or a creed that is not vitally con- 
nected with Christ risen, Christ with all power dominating the new 
Creation, we will find ourselves building legally, naturally, and not 
spiritually; bringing in the philosophy of natural religion gone astray, 
which is foolishness with God. Gospel that is the wisdom of God 
and the power of God is marked by grace and sufficiency in every 
particular. Note in the writings advocating endless punishment for 
sin that they appeal to law, and a natural sense of justice, as if there 
were no such thing as the righteousness of God, so established that 
He might be just while justifying the sinner and the ungodly. Yes, 
"them that believe?" But where is belief asked before the thing to 
be believed is assured, is Divinely wrought out, and offered as a gift? 
You say, "Some will not believe." This is your assertion only. 
Because you do not see a man believe before he dies, you take upon 
yourself to say he never will, but if this has any basis, it is found 
in Platonian, if not Plutonian, philosophy, not in the Word of God. 
Bring these things to the test of the Love of God, the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Truth 
must accord with "The Truth" and the Spirit will confirm it, bearing 
witness with our spirits. One D. D. actually says that he "wishes 
that endless punishment for sin were not true; God wishes it, too;" 
quoting II Peter 3 : 9, "not wishing that any should perish." Is there 
to be an endless truth that will endlessly disappoint God? "Adam! 
Where art thou?" Job! Did you "find Him?" "Saul! Saul! Why 
persecutest thou Me?" 



THE PERSONAL EQUATION 33 

These distinctions are very important, — eons, dispensations, 
times and seasons, places and peoples, — as we search the Scripture 
for indications of future conditions, prophetic and eschatological. 
For instance: 

Gal. 1 : 4, "this present evil eon." Read the context and see how- 
necessary it is to know the character of present evil. When did this 
eon begin and what is said of its end? 

Mark 10: 30, "in the eon to come, eonian life" (Am. Rev. V. 
margin, Greek, age.) 

Heb. 6:5, "The powers of the eon to come." What are they? 
Is this eon to come to be a good one, or another evil one? How long 
will it be? The reign of Messiah will be for one thousand years. 
( Rev. 20 : 4-6. ) The eon before this was 1,656 years; the probable 
length of the present will be 4,344 years. The lengths of the first 
and fifth are not so definite. 



CHAPTER III 
THINGS THAT DIFFER 

When we came into this world we had a little body, a little 
mind, and a soul. We had a first sensation and a first thought. 
The first and all subsequent thoughts were according to a principle 
easily recognized, but often violated ; namely, the distinction of things 
that differ. From the warm womb of a mother into the cold world 
was a difference that brought a cry and then a comfort; things were 
rough and smooth, hard and soft, there was hunger and satiety. 
In some things the distinction was clear, in other things vague, but 
where we made no distinction there we had no thought. 

Elaborate this as we may, it prevails as the law of our mind in 
every field of knowledge, human and Divine. It is an axiom so 
important that it is recorded in Paul's letter to the Philippians 
(1:9,10). He prays, "that your love may abound yet more and 
more in all knowledge and in all discernment, so that you may dis- 
tinguish things that differ," — "so that you may be clear and certain 
in the Day of Christ," — "clearsighted (eilikrineis) , and sure-footed 
(aproskopoi) into the day of Christ." 

Take a book like Dean Plumptre's "Spirits in Prison," where 
many writers on "the hereafter" are quoted, and you wonder if there 
is an exit from the maze of angles and blind alleys. The Dean him- 
self looks this way and that way. He is swayed by his intellect, his 
feelings, His Church, and his responsibilities, his uncertain conclusion 
being, "Eternal punishment is a half-trUth, and universal restoration 
is a half-truth." Nevertheless his book is called "epoch making." 
He protested against the grossest obscenities of the eternalists. Farrar, 
more brilliant perhaps, also condemns exaggerations, but he sees what 
he calls "antinomies" in Scripture. At the most, all he could claim 
to hold was a "hope." His weak point was in charging Scripture 
with contradictions, when the trouble was he had not made the 
necessary distinctions between things that differ. 

"Rightly dividing the word of Truth" is a principle much pro- 
fessed, and more neglected, even by the professors; nevertheless it is 
one that must be acted upon if we are to get away from these 
Ashdodish words and ambiguous ideas. (II Tim. 2: 15.) John 1 : 17: 

34 



THINGS THAT DIFFER 35 

"For the law was given through Moses, the grace and the truth came 
through Jesus Christ." "The most profound theological thinker" 
and the neophyte, alike, consent to this, but their writings bear evi- 
dence that they profess gospel and preach law. When they write on 
future punishment they give the "beggarly elements" the supremacy. 
It certainly causes most profound thought to bring together these 
that God has put asunder, but they do not hesitate in their church 
field to yoke the ox and the ass together, to sow divers seeds in one 
field, and to wear garments of divers sorts, wool and linen together. 
This latter perhaps when they seat themselves on Moses' seat, and 
call themselves evangelists. This is serving God and mammon. 

Then the progressive stages of revelation are shuffled from their 
designed sequence. Notice the four groups of Paul's subscribed 
epistles, and have regard to the chronological and dispensational order, 
and to the distinct character of each group: 

I. About A. D. 52 Thessalonians, while the earthly Millennial 
glory was the only hope revealed; no Scripture indicating that men 
should have a heavenly place. 

II. About A. D. 57 Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, the noble 
letters struck out in the very heat of the conflict, when the legalists 
of the day fought Paul's gospel of grace most bitterly. 

III. About A. D. 62 Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, with 
Paul in chains, the legalists exultant over the superficial aspect of 
Law triumphant, and Grace apparently dethroned. (Grace reigns, 
Rom. 5 : 21.) Here comes in the heavenly body of Christ, the secret 
of God, in no way revealed until this, its ordained season. 

IV. About A. D. 67 Timothy and Titus, the visible church 
1 ejecting Truth, and starting on the down grade. Paul writes not 
to Church, nor even to Saints generally, but to the few faithful 
workers who were in the spiritual fellowship of the whole truth. 
To these, left in the midst of carnalized institutions to represent the 
fulness of revealed truth, he leaves timely instructions. They had 
to minister to God's chosen ones as Jeremiah did of old to the re- 
bellious remnant that went down to Egypt for refuge. Nebuchad- 
nezzar found them there and made the captivity of Judah complete. 
He pitched his royal tent on the very pavement that the prophet 
had indicated. So Paul's warning to these isolated men of God 
was, "In the last days, perilous times," etc. (II Tim. 3: 1.) 

Natural Religion, influenced by Platonic philosophy, is responsible 



36 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

for the idea of sempiternal penalty for sin and evil. This false 
position is bolstered up by three serious misapprehensions of Truth. 
A chapter will be given to each. ( I ) The use of endless for eonian 
is superficial and false. (2) A future judgment for sins that denies 
the sufficiency of Christ, and of His gospel that proclaims an end of 
sin at the cross. (3) The ascription of unchangeability to free will 
as if it were the whole of man; in spite of the fact that man after 
man from Abel to Saul of Tarsus has been Divinely influenced to 
say, "Thy will be done." 

These three points, scrip turally established, would decide the 
question. The many related ideas would harmonize. A thorough 
study, taking the 652 times that eon and olam occur, should determine 
by this complete usage whether eons are limited periods, or one only 
indefinite sempiternity. And if Law is to have the pre-eminence, 
then sin's punishment is future, but if "Grace reigns through right- 
eousness," then sin has not been charged since Christ's resurrection. 
And in the case of God's will and man's will, one can change the 
other, if sufficient motive is brought to bear. This conflict has come 
to many a happy issue in the past without dishonor done to, or 
suffered by, either party. (Jer. 18: 1-10.) 

No, — -these thoughts are not our thoughts, nor these ways our 
ways. Dare we proceed without pronouncing another "Amen" to 
the supreme prayer of the Bible? Eph. 3: 14, Paul leads: "For this 
cause I bow my knees unto The Father from whom every family 
in heaven and on earth is named, that He would grant you, according 
to the riches of His glory, that you may be strengthened with power 
through His Spirit in your inward man; that Christ may dwell in 
your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and 
grounded in Love, may be strong to apprehend with all saints what 
is the breadth of it, and the length of it, and the height of it, and the 
depth of it, and to know that Love of Christ which passeth knowledge, 
that ye may be filled into all the fulness of God. Now, unto Him 
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him the 
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations of 
the eon of the eons." Amen! 

Why should the revisers persist in keeping "forever and ever" in 
the text here, when they say in the margin that the Greek is "the age 



THINGS THAT DIFFER 37 

of the ages?" Why blot out the definite article and add the copu- 
lative? Well! Thanks for the margin anyway! 

This prayer, intelligently offered, makes a belief in endless future 
punishment impossible. The discord is too manifest. 

"My Lord and my God," says Thomas. Who is your God, as 
revealed by the Son, and to whom the Holy Spirit bears witness — 
the God who in endless felicity unalloyed looks down upon the endless 
misery of creatures that once He loved and redeemed? or the God 
who sends back to nothing this same mass of beings bearing his image?* 
or the God all whose pleasure is accomplished by His Living Word 
sent forth, returning victorious as Head of the New Creation in 
which God is pleased to be all in all? "For out of [ek] Him, and 
through [did] Him, and unto [eis] Him, [are] all things" (ta panta, 
the all). Out from God came the Head of the Universe, and 
through the Head, the Universe is reconciled. Is there something 
somewhere outside this universe, and apart from the Head? Where 
is it? What is it? Shall we descend into Hades? but Hades will 
be gone ! Is there a place where God is not ? God is not in all their 
thoughts, but all their evil thoughts perish! and echo answers not. 

Have you recognized the following important Bible distinctions? 

(i) "Heaven and earth" (Gen. 1:1), they differ? — Yes, of 
course. Why speak of a thing so obvious? — Because, though obvious, 
it is so often ignored in the common slang of Christendom. Where 
is the consistency of calling the heavenly masculine body a bride? 
There are no brides in heaven except in the impassioned language of 
earthly love-making, and you know what that is worth. Are not 
golden streets, and foundations, and walls, and gates, and trees, and 
rivers, all in heaven according to the Ashdodish songs? "The earth 
was given to the children of men." (Ps. 115: 16.) (2) Soul and 
spirit, Heb. 4:12 intimates that men are prone to make the wish the 
father of the thought, and that it takes the keen edge of God's Word 
to separate them. (3) Flesh and spirit, old man, new man, inner 
man, outward man. (4) In Adam, in Christ. The wide-awake 
believer is continually called to note these differences. What is a 
dictionary but a distinguishing of words that differ in meaning? 
The more definitions it gives the more valuable. The man who 

*As only those who think they came from nothing can consistently believe. 
"A moment's Halt — a momentary taste 
Of Being from the Well amid the waste — 
And Lo! — the phantom caravan has reach'd 
The Nothing it set out from — Oh, make haste!" — Omar. 



38 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

professed to read it through said he got some valuable ideas out of it, 
but there seemed to be little sequence of thought. Eschatology would 
be much clearer if the Bible eons, dispensations, times, and seasons 
were each considered in proper connection only. Christendom, misled 
by inconsistent renderings of "eon," is lost in the contemplation of 
countless eternities of everlastingness "rolling on" or "tumbling upon 
each other." Scripture reveals a definite course of five eons from 
"the Beginning to the End." Where are the Berean searchers who 
will look this up and report on it. One profound theologian says 
there are but two ages; the present is one, and eternity is the other. 
If you do not know, you cannot rightly divide the Scriptures. 
Gal. i : 4, Christ died for our sins that He might deliver us from this 
present evil eon. Surely this is important. Do you know when 
"this present evil eon" began? Has it come to an end yet? 

Mark 10: 30, "in the eon to come, eonian life." How does this 
affect you? But see Chapter IV. 

Dispensations. These have been set forth by many, and diagrams 
abound. There is, however, much more to be learned. The boundaries 
of this present dispensation are in dispute, for the "landmark" has 
been removed and we have trespassed upon the inheritance of the 
Chosen People. 

Eph. 3:9. Be sure to get this right. "The dispensation of the 
secret which from the eons hath been hid in God." Col. 1 : 24-27, 
"now [A. D. 62] manifested." Yet the heavenly and earthly dis- 
pensations are so mixed that many who read this paragraph may hold 
that this dispensation began at Pentecost. A "prophetic conference" 
speaker had a chart which begins this age at Pentecost. The second 
chapter of Acts records the fulfilment of a prophecy to a people whose 
destiny never was said to be Heaven. On the contrary we read that 
Abraham was "heir of the world" And this was and is the hope of 
the chosen people, now after 34 centuries unfulfilled, but as sure as 
the promise of God. The history of this earthly nation was abruptly 
ended in the twenty-eighth chapter of Acts, to be resumed in the now 
near future. Meantime there is no "Israel," and the promises and 
prophecies are all in abeyance. Forty years was Jehovah dealing with 
that generation to whom their Savior was born, and which crucified 
Him, from John the Baptist to the Jewish wars which ended in 
their dispersion. During this 40 years their kingdom was "at hand," 
its manifestation depending upon national repentance. As it was 



THINGS THAT DIFFER 39 

* 

"at hand" to that nation only, it ceased to be at hand when the 
nation ceased to be. It could not be at hand to the present church, 
which is His "Body." As soon as the nation is revived, the kingdom 
will again be "at hand." Thus this Gospel of the Kingdom was 
pertinent until about A. D. 66 and will probably be pertinent for 
the generation preceding the Sabbatic Millennium, but it is not so now. 
Preaching that Kingdom now is not distinguishing things that differ. 

Gospels differ and their difference should be distinguished. They 
differ so much that the Apostle to the Jew could not work with the 
Apostle to the Gentiles. This present heavenly dispensation has had 
one common humanity as its field, with its Gospel of Glory since the 
action of Paul in Acts 28. Jews and Gentiles were differentiated 
before this dispensation and they will be after, but "humanity" is 
one to-day. 

If this dispensation had been revealed before Israel's last rejection 
of their Gospel, it would have given them some excuse for that 
rejection. Such is the importance of this "landmark" which is the 
definite end of the Pentecostal "generation," and the initiation of 
the Gospel of THE secret, the gathering out of a representative 
Body (not the "people' 3 of Acts 15: 14). 

There is a first resurrection and there is a second resurrection; 
yes, you say. But Matt. 25: 31-46 is used as the homiletic text for 
both by profound theologians. This is not rightly dividing the truth. 
In this same connection, Scriptures that reveal judgment should not 
all be lumped together and applied to "one final general judgment." 
Strictly reading, Scripture reveals no such a concentration. 

"Hell" as found in our English Bible denies the distinction of 
the original Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, and the Lake of the Divine 
Fire, each of which has its own definite signification; they are not 
used promiscuously by Bible writers. "An old contention," you say; 
"yes, as old as the Bible, and if you do not care for this Scripture 
distinction, you may remain in the infant class until your spirit is 
ready to receive advanced truth. Do not take up such subjects as 
these unless you have a willingness to be taught of God, and from 
God's text-book. The future is no topic for argument or assertion. 
Faith can appropriate what is revealed ; beyond Revelation we are lost. 

Gospels of God, of the Kingdom, of grace, of glory earthly and 
heavenly. What is the "everlasting gospel" so-called in Rev. 14:9? 
Who preaches it? It is "eonian." What eon? Where is it pro- 



40 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

claimed ? What is its special good news ? A simple attentive reading 
places this "gospel," as to time, in the last three and a half years 
of this present evil eon. This period is marked out as "the day of 
wrath." Rev. n: 15, 18, "the seventh angel sounded — Thy Wrath 
is come" (Rev. 6:17). Rev. 15: 1, "The last seven plagues; in 
which the wrath of God will be completed." This eliminates the 
idea that wrath will be any element in the action of Him who will 
sit on the Great White Throne. In the "little Apocalypse" this 
wrath is called God's strange work, — His strange act. Isa. 28:21, 
zur, strange work; see Lev. 10: 1, strange fire; Isa. 28:21, nochri, 
strange (act); Ex. 2:22, strange land, foreign; thus this wrath of 
God is foreign to His nature. It is exercised against darkness and 
danger to his loved ones, and all are His loved ones; dare this be 
denied? Now in this time of wrath, the smoke fills the Holy of 
Holies, the Mercy Seat is inaccessible; the only note of hope is "Fear 
God," "endure for a short period and you will enter the Sabbatic 
Millennium. A profound theologian, — ( ?) no, not this time, — a 
D-ictatorial D-ean cites Rev. 14:9 to show that Bible "usage" deter- 
mines the meaning of eonian to be "absolutely endless," etc. "Fear 
God," the burden of this "gospel," is the conclusion of natural 
religion. Read Eph. 2:8, 9, and Rev. 14:9, alternately until you 
see the difference. Every correct distinction that you make adds so 
much to your knowledge. This may be speaking after the manner 
of men, but what can one do? "Speak the truth in Love." Is there 
no love in the discipline of education. "Love in the Truth." But 
we have to get into the truth to do that. 

Illustrations are sometimes made up to suit, and are not always 
to be vouched for as solid facts. " 'Lo! I come' — Praise the Lord," 
said the exhorter. "If He had said, 'High I come,' He would have 
passed me by." This is acceptable like the collection, "according to 
what a man hath." But when an educated Doctor of Divinity and 
Dean perpetrates the following, criticizing another, it shows the 
necessity of publishing this chapter. "When we learned that he 
accepted the position that the Church was not the bride of Christ, 
and that a new dispensation began in the closing verses of the twenty- 
eighth chapter of Acts, we began to tremble for him." "Of course" 
— we ought to tremble for each other ; Paul was with the Corinthians 
in fear and trembling, but let us tremble also for one who sees no 
distinction between the "body" of the Husband of which Christ is 



THINGS THAT DIFFER 4 1 

"Head," and a bride who has a complete body of her own, the mystic 
union of husband and wife manifesting two bodies in one spirit. 
The "perfect man" is the outcome of the present, and like Adam is 
perfected at the end of the sixth day. A perfect woman will be built 
as Eve was on the seventh day. The bishop trembles on account of 
this teaching because he does not see it. Be not disturbed; every 
searcher must see spiritual distinctions for himself ; they are discernible 
to the eye of obedient faith alone. The correctness of these distinc- 
tions, and the number of them, is the measure of spirituality. The 
possession of pentecostal gifts was not the measure of spirituality in 
the Corinthian church, much less now when gifts have ceased. Yes, 
the "gift" gave way to a Personality, when that blind generation of 
Israel neglected its 40-year opportunity. Then God sprang his 
glorious "secret" upon believers; the field was clear; covenant obliga- 
tions could be postponed in the face of national impenitence. Forty 
years the Messiah had waited for Israel's repentance; then the last 
vestige of their nationality disappeared ; the people were dispersed 
to be sifted through the nations. It was not until Israel was thus 
formally set aside that the first public revelation was written which 
indicated that any man was to have a heavenly destiny. Then, at 
Rome, Paul the prisoner penned it. What constitutes a change of 
dispensation if this formal turning from the Jewish people and their 
covenanted kingdom on earth to that Oneness with Christ far above 
all heavens, symbolized by the Head and Body, is not one? But the 
Dean of a Million-Dollar Bible Institute calls this "the leaven of 
false doctrine." The same pamphlet that backbites a fellow Bible 
worker gives an Institute creed, specifically mentioning fourteen 
articles crudely expressed, seven of which violate the rule of Phil. 1 : 9, 
"to distinguish things that differ." (This is confusion at home, 
which calls for remedy before condemning others.) Scripture is 
harmonious when every word occupies its own place. Every disloca- 
tion produces discord. Contradictions are apparent only, not real. 
Five lines of the musical staff may be used for 24 different keys, 
even if 2 keys do have some notes in common; a strict observance 
of the signature is necessary. So it is necessary to observe the dis- 
pensational signature. Or again, your 191 9 calendar would cause 
confusion if it were used for 1920. 

Jukes gives the following apparent contradictory list of texts. 
Luke 12: 32, a little flock; Matt. 7:14, strait gate, few enter; 



42 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Luke 13 : 24, many seek but do not enter; John 3 : 36, wrath abideth 
on unbelievers; Matt. 25 : 46, Eonian discipline; 25:41, fire pre- 
pared for the Devil ; John 5 : 29, judgment resurrection ; Matt. 23 : 33, 
judgment of the Gehenna; II Cor. 2:15, some perish; Phil. 3:19, 
their end destruction; Heb. 10: 26, 27, adversaries devoured; 
Heb. 10: 31, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God; 
12: 29, God a consuming fire; I Peter 4: 17, 18, judgment begins at 
the house of God, where will the sinner and ungodly appear?; 
II Peter 2: 1, 3, 6, 12, shall utterly perish; Rev. 21 : 8, the fearful — 
and liars in the Lake that burneth with the Divine Fire; Rev. 14: 9, 
tormented for the eons of the eons. Each of the above is true in its 
own place, and false if misapplied. They contradict the following 
unless rightly apportioned: Gen. 12: 3, 22: 18, Acts 3 : 25, Gal. 3 : 8, 
All families of the earth blessed ; Acts 3:21, restitution of all things ; 
Eph. 1 : 9, 10, All things brought under the Headship of Christ; 
Col. 1 : 20, All things reconciled to God; Eph. 2:3, those now saved 
were once children of wrath even as others', Rom. 8: 19-23, Creation 
to be delivered; II Cor. 5:19, Sin not charged now; Heb. 2:147 
destroy him that had the power of death; Rom. 5 : 12-21, Grace reigns; 
I Cor. 15:22, All made alive; 15:28, All subject to Christ — God 
all in all; Eph. 1:3-10, blessed — so that He might gather together 
in one; Phil. 2: 10, 11, every knee bows in the name of Savior; 
John 14: 13, 14, If ye ask anything in My Name, I will do it; 
Rom. 14: 9, Lord both of the dead and the living; Luke 20: 38, not 
a God of the dead, but of the living; I Tim. 4: 10, Savior of all men; 
2: 1-6, ransom for all; Rom. 11 : 32, All unbelievers, that He might 
have mercy upon all; I John 4: 14, Savior of the world; I John 2: 2, 
propitiation for the sins of the whole world ; John 1 : 29, taketh away 
the sin of the world ; I John 3 : 8, destroy the works of the Devil 
(what are they?) ; Rev. 21 : 4, 5, no more death; Rev. 5 : 13, every 
created thing — praising; John 6: 37-39, The Father hath given 
all, — I will draw all to myself; Rom. 14:8, If we should die we 
belong to the Lord. 

All the above passages, whatever their tenor, are true in their 
own proper place only; false if dislocated. How can it be said that 
the Word is rightly divided if these apparent contradictions are 
allowed to be real? "It is written," said the Tempter on a very 
important point, selecting one line of Scripture and ignoring another. 
"It is written again," said He who is the Truth, giving the Scripture 
quoted its proper harmonious place. "The Scripture cannot be broken" 



THINGS THAT DIFFER 43 

— neither can it be broken up into pieces. (Matt. 4: 6,7 ; John 10: 35.) 

Old things, the former things, darkness, sin, death, pain pass 
away. As for the first heaven and earth, the grave, Hades, Gehenna, 
Tartarus, there shall be no more place found for them. Who is he 
that saith, "Behold! I make all things new?" 

Things that differ. In which of these two systems are we to 
perceive the Truth? Which appeals to the lover of God and the 
believer in His Work? Which is "the Truth in Jesus?" (1) That 
of which "Sin" is the central thought; terror the great deterrent from 
sin and the motive for good, personal salvation the one great object; 
or (2) that in which God revealed in Christ is the center; the good- 
ness of God the motive power; and the reconciliation of the Universe 
the object? One is popular evangelism, the other the Gospel of God 
concerning His Son. If the knowledge of God is salvation, what 
shall we say is the result of false representations of His character? 
Because Love is called sentimental, and law practical, are we to slight 
love that saves, and cling to law whose only end is death? 

II Peter 1 : 20, No Scripture is of private interpretation ; that is, 
the context must be considered, fallible inferences avoided. 

Farrar well says, "Are we to accept trans-substantiation because 
of the words, This is My body ? — the supremacy of the Pope on, 
Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build My Church? — to revive 
witchcraft murders because Moses said, Thou shalt not suffer a witch 
to live? — to persecute because told to compel them to come in? — 
to burn men alive because the church 'Inquisitor' attached that sense 
to the words et bernus in the Vulgate? Are we to accept the entire 
Calvinistic system of 'reprobation' because Paul quoted the words, 
'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated' (Rom. 9: 13) ? Many 
millions have so taken these words, supposing themselves to be taking 
them in their obvious meaning." 

Is there then no certain way by which we can be assured as to 
what God meant? — There is. The Gospel of God is to be pro- 
claimed for the obedience of faith. (Rom. 1:5, 16 : 26 ; Matt. 1 1 : 25 ; 
John 7: 17.) 

About 99 per cent of the Old Testament, and about 91 per cent 
of the New is occupied with the relation of Israel to Jehovah. 
Israel was disobedient, and is dispersed during this present dispensa- 
tion, but in the coming eon they will be fulfilling their office as a 
kingdom of priests. The nation has had no existence since A. D. 70. 
Then Israel ceased to exist politically, and a new dispensation came in. 



44 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

This probably ends during this 20th Century. Then once more 
Israel's Kingdom will be at hand. Kingdom Scriptures will be 
pertinent. The day of Wrath will "narrow the way" into the, 
Kingdom and few will "endure to the end," and find the "strait gate." 
Man's six millennial days will end with nothing finished. The Day 
of the Lord will then see the work prosper in His hands. All these 
prophetic and apocalyptic passages must be taken into account, if the 
truth about the judgments of the Lord are to be understood. 

Matt. 28: 18, Israel is to teach all nations for one thousand years. 
"The priests' lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the 
law at his mouth." (Mai. 2:7.) The believers of this dispensation 
are not priests, and they should recognize no man who assumes that 
which belongs to another time and to a specially designated nation. 

Some more distinctions of importance should be mentioned, 
though briefly: 

1. The Law was given by Moses. Grace and Truth came by 
Jesus Christ. 

2. There are distinctions of time, past, present and future. 

3. Of times, seasons, days, dispensations, eons, peoples (Jew, 
Gentile and the Church of God). 

4. Church in the wilderness, church of pentecostal time, church 
of God, church which is His body, church which the Son of Man 
will build in the next eon. 

5. There are covenanted and uncovenanted people. 

6. There is no excuse for calling a church a kingdom. 

7.. Righteousness of God and Reconciliation are two distinct 
doctrines. 

8. There is an old creation and a new creation. 

9. There is a distinction to be made between Birth and Creation. 

10. Finite and infinite. Heaven and Earth. 

11. God and Man. 

12. Between scaffolding and the perfected building. 

13. Between a partial and a complete Bible revelation. 

14. Between sin and evil. 

15. Righteousness and godliness. 

16. Between soul and spirit. 

17. Death and Life. 

18. Immortality in Adam and in Christ. 

19. Between darkness and light. 



CHAPTER IV 
FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 



DIA.1I. 
I. 



II 



FIVE BIBLE EONS. 
III. 



IV. 



■SI -i 






A ,_3ATAt1. _ H 


. ADAM. . 

r— - ■ •* 


( 

jJlOAM. 



SOW OF MAN. 



SOW OF GOO 



"Eternity" and "Forever and ever and ever and ever" (ad in- 
finitum) are the words which, in the mouth of a finite creature, are 
meaningless. God in his Omniscience could comprehend the idea 
supposed to be conveyed, but He has not authorized any of His spokes- 
men to put it into words. An attempt to consider endless duration, if 
continued through chiliads, would add no more to a man's moral or 
spiritual nature than if he were to make it his life work to count the 
sands on the seashore. On the other hand, the spiritual senses are 
exercised by attention to the Scriptures, which reveal the nature and 
purpose of God; such as, "He that hath seen Me," says the Son, 
"hath seen the Father;" and "they shall all be taught of God;" "Look 
unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God 
and there is none else. I swear by Myself, and the unchanging truth 
left my mouth ; to Me all knees shall bend, and all tongues shall con- 
fess. To the Lord belong Righteousness, Power and Honor ; Come on 
and bow down, all you haters of Him ; in the Lord become righteous 
and glory in Israel's Race"! (John 14:9; Isa. 54: 13; 45:22-25.) 
Such are the things the Divine Teacher sets forth. There is no 
teaching before His Alpha, nor after His Omega. The Bible is His 
text-book and the Son is His complete Living "Word." 

Thayer says, "The endless future is divided up into periods." 
Will this sentence stand analysis? Into how many periods is eternity 
divided? Who divided it? How long are these periods? If of vary- 
ing lengths, what are the maximum and minimum ? This is practical ; 
for it is of importance to know the possibilities of this present period, 
and how soon humanity will enter another period. 



45 



46 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Endless penalty for sin is a doctrine based on several errors of 
translation. In this chapter it is shown that no endless duration is 
mentioned, and that "eonian punishment" is no exception. As Dean 
James M. Gray writes, "When we speak of verbal inspiration, we 
refer to original autographs of the Scriptures as they come from the 
sacred writers, and not to any translation of them." 

F. W. Farrar says, "The pages of theologians in all ages show a 
startling prevalence of such terms as, 'everlasting death' — 'ever- 
lasting damnation' — 'endless torments' — 'everlasting vengeance' — 
'everlasting fire,' — not one of which has scriptural authority. Death, 
vengeance, torments, are never modified by the adjective eonian; 
eonian condemnation occurs but once (Heb. 6:2); eonian fire occurs 
once (Jude7); of the fire of Sodom, twice in Matthew, once in 
parable, both times as the equivalent of le-olam; eonian condemna- 
tion, once only [at the discipline of the coming Millennial eon]. Is a 
doctrine of wide and questionable influence to rest on the rare occur- 
rence of an adjective which scores of times has not [rather, never hasl 
the meaning attributed to it? And is this meaning to be conceded 
to it in spite of the fact that the doctrine, if it had been intended, 
could have been expressed, without a shadow of ambiguity, by ten 
or more other expressions known to, and used by, the sacred writers, 
but never applied by them to the duration of evil, or of future 
retribution?" 

"Eonian punishment." This expression occurs but once. (Matt. 
25:46.) One argument used to fix the meaning of endlessness on 
this adjective is this. I take a pamphlet of Dean R. A. Torrey as 
a sample. He writes, "Usage is always the decisive thing in determin- 
ing the meaning of words." This is correct. He then proceeds, as 
others do, to determine what the adjective eonian means in its 72 
occurrences, regardless of what the noun eon means, which occurs 
120 times, and regardless of the meaning of its Hebrew equivalent, 
olam, which occurs 458 times. His argument is that the Bible speaks 
of "eonian life" 44 times, and the meaning is determined after this 
fashion ; "no one questions that this is endless ;" of eonian habitation, 
which, he says, "the blessed are to have in the world to come, of 
course these are never ending;" of eonian weight of glory, he says, 
"In this case again, of course, it means endless," and so on, of the 
home not made with hands, of unseen things, of comfort, of glory, 
of salvation, of redemption, of inheritance, of the covenant, of the 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 47 

kingdom, of the gospel, of God, of the Spirit, thus "covering 59 
instances where the thought of endlessness is absolutely necessary to 
the sense." His conclusion is, "If usage can determine the mean- 
ing of any word, then certainly the New Testament use of this word 
determines it to mean never ending." — He then cites Matt. 25 : 46 
and argues that eonian must mean the same when it qualifies punish- 
ment as when it qualifies life, which is a correct statement. As this is 
the "main defense of the position, it will pay the Berean searcher to 
note every occurrence of the adjective. The concordance has eonian 
life 44 times. Forty of these are in connection with the Abrahamic 
Covenant, which is fulfilled in the eon to come, and life for that 
Millennial reign of the Covenanted Messiah is the meaning in every 
case where it occurs in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, 
Galatians, and Jude. It refers to the postmillennial eon in Timothy 
and Titus 4 times. It is not found elsewhere. 

Abraham has no promise or covenant beyond this reign of Christ. 
Gentiles have no covenant. Messiah, Son of David, Son of Man, 
reigns a thousand years in the coming eon, and then Christ, the un- 
veiled Son of God, finishes his work in a last eon. Millennial 
promises are positive and limited, but they do not thereby deny the 
probabilities of additional blessings. So all the work of the Son of 
God, though it has a beginning, a progressive course, and a per- 
fected end, and is accomplished in a foreordained limit of five eons, 
does not by these facts deny anything beyond. 

Messiah reigns as king and priest after the order of Melchisedec. 
"Thou art a priest for the eon" (Heb.5 : 6 ; 7 : 17) . This is the coming 
eon, the fourth, when priesthood ends. "The kingdom of the world 
has become that of our Lord and His Messiah; and He shall reign 
for the eons of the eons (Rev. 11: 15). This reign as king is for 
the two coming eons, the fourth and fifth; then He delivers up the 
kingdom, which ends, having accomplished its mission, which was 
"subjection." Fatherhood is then manifested as the accomplished 
purpose of the eons. 

The argument that the eon of discipline of Matt. 25 : 46 is the 
same as the Millennial eon of life is correct. But other Scriptures 
show an additional eon in which the life continues, while as to the 
discipline, for some it ends as the next eon begins, and for others it 
continues through the two eons, notably the Beast and the False 
Prophet. Scriptures which treat of the final eon must decide for us 
4 



48 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

the conditions then existing. The eons end with CHRIST VIC- 
TORIOUS. (For "punishment" see Chapter VII.) 

Other expressions follow the dispensational rule. Heb. 5 : 9, 
Eonian "salvation ;" of Hebrews under the Melchisedec priesthood, 
is, like the "life," for the Millennial Kingdom. Heb. 9: 12, eonian 
"redemption" by the blood of Christ the Covenant "Gaal," is for the 
covenanted eon in contrast with the old yearly atonement. Heb. 
13:20, The eonian "covenant;" when was it made? what are its 
terms? The Millennial blessings are the promised blessings; but 
God certainly is at liberty to add to His definite promises. Heb. 
9: 15, eonian "inheritance;" this is under the new covenant which 
takes the place of the old; both of which promise fulfilment in the 
coming eon. II Peter .1 : 11, eonian "Kingdom;" Peter, a minister 
to the circumcision, who will judge one of the Twelve Tribes in the 
Millennial Kingdom, exhorts his brethren of the Dispersion; Verse 
16, at the parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note Peter's dox 
ology, "To Him be the glory for the day of the eon, Amen." 

Rev. 14:6, eonian "gospel." In saying of this, that "of course, 
it never ends," it can hardly be that the passage was read with any 
care. The last three and a half prophetic years of this present evil 
eon as unveiled by John show Satan cast down to the earth (Rev. 
12:9), having great WRATH (Vs. 12); the seven golden bowls 
full of the wrath of God are to be poured out ( Rev. 15:7); the mercy 
seat is unapproachable during this day of wrath (Vs. 8) ; men blas- 
phemed (Rev. 16: 21) ; the great day of their wrath is come (6:17); 
the Nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came (11: 18). An angel 
flying in midheaven having the eonian gospel to proclaim unto them 
that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation, and tribe, and tongue, 
and people: "He saith with a great voice (note the character of the 
only good-news in this, the Day of Wrath), Fear God, and give 
Him glory;, for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him 
that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of 
Waters." This Angelic Proclamation is in accord practically with 
Eccl. 12: 13, 14 and Rom. 2: 6-1 1, but it is gospel of a most limited 
character, and its eon runs out in three and a half years, when 
Christ comes in Kingdom glory. Imagine, if you can, this angel 
proclaiming these words for the Thousand years! No! 'The day 
of wrath" is past when Jesus comes. The world will then go to 
school and learn of God. 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 49 

IIThess. 2: 16, eonian ''consolation and good hope;" this hope is 
Millennial, as no other had up to this time (A. D. 52) been revealed. 
II Cor. 4:18, the same Millennial unseen hope to offset transient 
visible values. Vs. 17 estimates the eonian glory of the Millennium 
as weighty. II Cor. 4:16 to 5:5, Eonian, in this passage ends 
with resurrection and is thus limited. I Peter 5:10, Eonian 
"glory;" Peter to the elect of the Dispersion (1:1), called 
unto the Millennial glory of Israel; the coming eon. Note 
doxology, Vs. 11, "To Him the dominion for the eons of the 
eons," that is for the last two eons of the five, the glory of the Son 
of man in the fourth eon and of the Son of God in the fifth eon; 
thus glory after glory is unveiled. II Tim. 2: 10, Eonian "glory;" 
— Paul's last words, not to Church, nor saints generally, but to a 
fellow-worker familiar with the exceeding riches of grace and glory 
of the heavenlies. Timothy would give the expression its meaning as 
understood in its dispensational place, i.e., the last eon. Philemon 15, 
Onesimus left his master "for a season;" Paul sends him back, "that 
thou shouldest possess him as a brother" eonially — Philemon, like 
Timothy, was familiar with Paul's Ephesian truth and would be 
likely to think of the heavenly body of Christ in the last two eons. 
Matt. 18:8, Eonian "fire;" Vs. 9 has the Gehenna of the fire, con- 
trasted with the eonian life of one thousand years in the coming eon. 
Jude 7, Sodom and Gomorrha, eonian fire; but Sodom is yet to come 
into judgment, so that this fire is temporary. 

Mark 3: 29, "has not forgiveness for THE eon" (what eon but 
the coming one when Messiah reigns 1,000 years?). "But is guilty 
of an eonian sin" — eonian refers to the eon just mentioned above 
and it is the coming 4th eon. "Damnation" of A. V. should be 
"judgment," which some Greek manuscripts have. Other MSS. 
have "sin." The latter is probably correct, as "guilty of judgment" 
is not a correct phrase. Where there is one, however, there is the 
other. While forgiveness for this sin is not proclaimed in the next 
eon, it certainly is in the last eon. It is not charged nor punished. 
(But see this point, Chapter VI.) 

Matt. 12: 31, 32, "it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this eon, 
nor in that which is to come." Nothing in this passage denies forgive- 
ness in the eon that follows "that which is to come." 

II Thess. 1 : 9, Eonian "destruction" is from the presence or face 



50 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when? (Vs. 10 goes 
on to say when) ; it is Millennial banishment. 

Heb. 6:2, Eonian "judgment;" one of the "first principles" be- 
tween Jehovah and Israel in covenant. Rewards and punishments 
were at the consummation of covenant promise in the coming Day 
of the Lord, 4th Eon. Vs. 5, "powers of the eon to come" were those 
prophesied of by Joel. 

Luke 16: 9, Eonian "tabernacles;" this, like all New Testament 
parables, sets forth some phase of the coming kingdom. Vs. 9 
is a question, "Do I say as the children of this world do? No! on 
the contrary be faithful in these lesser things that you may have the 
Millennial riches committed to you." The Pharisees were lovers 
of money. (Luke 16: 19-31.) This is the fifth parable of a series, 
the five being really one parable (Luke 15: 3) ; it refers to conditions 
in the Messianic Kingdom. Lazarus is a sample of those who have 
that eonian life, and the rich man of those who enter into the eonian 
discipline of the Thousand Years. 

I Tim. 6: 15, 16, The titles of our Lord here indicate the eons 
in which honor and power are ascribed; it is the last two eons in 
which our Lord appears in these three offices. 

Rom. 16: 25, The mystery hushed up through eonian times. 
(May we not say "of course ( ? ) this is not unlimited limitations.") 
The eonian God ("of course," what?). Has not every reader sung 
"Rock of Ages," which is Old Testament "God of the eons"? 
(Isa. 26:4.) The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath; but is He 
limited to the Sabbath? (Matt. 12:8.) Because He is "God of 
the eons" is He bound by this positive relationship so that He is 
nothing else? (But see Chapter I. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, 
the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Rev. 22: 13.) 
Here is limitation, but no denial of the Deity of The Son before 
Alpha, when He was sent forth, nor after Omega, when His work 
is consummated. 

Heb. 9: 14, "The Eonian Spirit." What The Holy Spirit did 
before the eons we are not told; what He will do after the eons 
we are not told; but we have something to go on. God has made 
Himself known; He has accepted the perfected work which the 
Living Word was sent to do; we certainly do not look for cessation, 
but we have confidence in God, even if we cannot see to the end 
of endlessness. Now The Spirit brooded over the wreck of the first 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 5 1 

Cosmos; the Bible reveals His eonian offices, and "Eonian Spirit" is 
the proper reading to characterize His eonian work. 

We have thus considered the 70 passages where "eonian" is 
found, and the result is that usage here agrees with usage in 480 
other places, and conclude that if "age" is its root meaning, the con- 
sistent and harmonious meaning in 650 passages, then "eonian life" 
in Matt. 25 : 46 is life in a coming definite eon, and "eonian punish- 
ment" (or discipline) does not in itself convey a meaning of endless- 
ness. Can you call to mind any adjective which contradicts its noun? 
It is not true that "no one questions" this perversion. 

"The stock sophism of the Latin Augustine had no acceptance with 
the Greek Fathers, — that, because eonian life means endless life 
(which is not true), therefore eonian discipline must mean endless 
punishment (which does not follow). Such an argument would 
have seemed idle to an Origen, a Gregory of Nyssa, or a Theodore. 
They did believe that punishment was eonian ; they did not believe it 
to be endless. Even those Latin Fathers who had a competent 
knowledge of Greek were aware that there was no real force in such 
a position. They of course knew that the Latin aeternus was used 
as aionios was in Greek. Augustine knew this, — when the spirit of 
system allowed him to think of the matter. The Augustine argument 
would have been dead and buried long ago were it not that "words 
often repeated react on the minds of the speaker and at last ossify 
the very organs of intelligence." (Aside, Do not try it, "om — om — 
om" — it is an ungodly relative of the ouija board.) But this cannot 
apply to the Bible words which have a Divine vitality, if used with 
intelligence, — "IF"? yes, for mechanical repetition, even of these, 
tends to hardness of heart. 

Now the New Testament writers borrow aionios from the 
Septuagint, and the fact is "that of the widely different subjects to 
which eonian is there applied, in seventy they are of a limited and 
temporary nature" (White). 

Appeal is made to Thayer's dictionary, — "aionios, (1) Without 
beginning or end and that always will be." Apply this definition 
and note the absurdities which result ; "From that duration which has 
no beginning to that duration which has no beginning or end." 
But how can we give up the familiar phrase, "From everlasting to 
everlasting Thou art God?" Read it as Moses wrote it, "Jehovah! 
Thou hast been our dwelling-place from generation to generation, 



52 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

ere ever the mountains were born, or the Earth and World rolled 
in their spheres, even from eon to eon Thou art God." (Ps. 90: 1,2.) 
These cycles mark definite divisions of time. Thayer gives "(2) 
without beginning and (3) without end, never to cease, everlasting,"' 
but when does this thing without beginning, end ? and when does this 
without end begin? (See puzzle column.) 

Dean Torrey takes up also the phrase, "The eons of the eons," 
used 12 times in the Apocalypse, and establishes its meaning by the 
same "of course" method. He confesses, however, that the expression 
literally rendered is "unto the ages of the ages," which, he says, 
"means ages which are themselves composed of ages. It represents 
not years tumbling upon years, nor centuries tumbling upon centuries, 
but ages tumbling upon ages in endless procession. It is the strongest 
possible form of expression for absolute endlessness." But, the idea 
of "Ages composed of Ages" is not found in Scripture. This is not to 
be settled by the simple assertion of any person not authorized of God. 
There are many who claim authority, but as these are all in high 
church high seats, they will ignore this discussion, having little use 
for Scriptures. 

The "present eon" is called "evil" (Gal. 1:4); the two eons 
preceding this were evil; the cosmos of each was wrecked. But in 
"the eons of the eons" the glory of Christ Jesus will be unveiled, 
therefore it is appropriate that these should be mentioned together 
in this form in the Unveiling. To Christ Jesus be the glory of the 
coming eon of His Millennial reign, and of the greater personal glory 
of the last eon when his Divine Sonship is unveiled. These twelve 
ascriptions of praise "for the eons of the eons" are definitely for the 
last two eons, the fourth and the fifth. It is instructive to see that 
Jude (Vs. 25) ascribes glory, majesty, dominion and power to the only 
God our Savior before all the eons! and now! and for all the eons! 
but stops there, not adding "and after all the eons" which would be 
looked for as filling out the expression. And where the Scripture 
thus markedly stops, irreverent tongues wag on with their "countless 
ages of eternity" and their mechanical repetition of "for ever and 
ever and ever," words on the lips of ignorance meaningless. As the 
kingdom is delivered up at the end (I Cor. 15: 24), and the reign of 
Christ is over, dominion is ascribed to Him for these last two eons 
only. How false the exposition of these twelve passages that ascribes 
endless kingly dominion to Him after He has given up the kingdom. 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 53 

Messiah will indeed reign in glory, yet His visible personal glory 
will not be equal to that which he had with the Father before the 
eons, which glory He at last resumes. Does Dean Torrey's contention 
make this of no effect, when he anticipates this fact as follows? 
"In Rev. 11:15, He shall reign, — 'He' does not necessarily refer 
to the Christ (of I Cor. 15: 24) but rather to the Lord Jehovah, in 
which case the argument falls to the ground." Who shall decide 
when Deans D. D. Disagree? Dean Gray writes: "Wherever 
Jehovah is spoken of in the Old Testament as manifesting Himself 
to Men, there, I think, the Second Person of the Trinity is desig- 
nated. With this understanding, it is proper to say, that the Jesus 
of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament." 
Jesus is expressly identified as Jehovah in Matt. 11:3-6 with 
Rev. 1 : 8, John 12: 41 with Isa. 6, I Cor. 10:9 with Deut. 6:16, 
Heb. 11:26, I Peter 1 : 11. Trying to visualize the endless future, 
finite men would even perpetuate kingdom conditions. There is 
some consistency in this, for a king and kingdom are necessary only 
where there is some evil to subdue. The question at issue might be 
put thus. Is there an endless future for evil? for the law of sin 
and death? for successful opposition to the God of all grace? for an 
ungratified desire of God? for an endless exercise of wrath and 
infliction of torment by the Savior of the world, Him of whom it 
is said, "He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied"? 
— "Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands"? There is 
good reason, then, to differ from this repeated declaration, "There is 
not a single passage in the book (Revelation) in which the ex- 
pression 'the eons of the eons' is used of anything but that which is 
absolutely endless. So (?) the question is answered again, and 
answered decisively that the conscious suffering of the persistently 
impenitent is absolutely endless." ("Persistently impenitent" is 
taken up later.) Vagueness is removed from this notable expression 
also by the use of the definite article; THE eons of the eons can 
mean only the last two. Of these twelve passages in Revelation, 
five refer to the resurrection life of Christ, two to His reign with 
His saints, two are ascription of glory for the two eons, and three 
to torments of the beast and the false prophet and of those who have 
the mark of the beast, as the Harlot Babylon has. These last are 
Jews covenanted with Antichrist. The language of text and context 
in these twelve passages does not convey any information concerning 



54 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

conditions beyond the end. See Diagram I, where the definite eon is 
indicated to which each of the 192 occurrences of the word refer. 

Again, the plural, "eons," is found 33 times. Consider the 
absurdity of "Eternities." Note the absurd rendering of Am. R. V. 
in II Tim. 1 : 9, Titus 1 : 2, "before eternal times." The rendering 
"forever" is found 63 times in the New Testament; the Am. R. V. 
has in 48 of these cases put in the margin ; "Greek, Age" ! What shall 
we say of the 15 left in the text unnoted? Fear? Cowardice? 
Expediency? Ignorance? If the Greek is eon, why cannot eon be 
put in the text? It would help some. What does "usage" determine 
in these 63 passages in the Am. R. V. ? — Why, that there is one usage 
in the Greek, and a contradictory usage in the English. Then in the 
argument, we have one usage for the noun, and a contradictory usage 
claimed for its adjective. Usage determines (of course), but what 
kind of usage? Business men may buy, trusting to a few samples 
exhibited in a poor light, but the question here at issue has to do with 
the integrity and meaning of God's Word which reveals His character 
and purposes. Do you preach "endless punishment in hell" before you 
have considered these 652 occurrences of olam and eon! 

F. D. Maurice has expressed a thought, worthy in itself, but 
which he has foisted on the word "eternal." He says "it should not 
be conceived of in terms of time duration." "This is eonian life; 
that they should know Thee, the only true God" (John 17:3), is 
a passage which makes it "the perception of His love, the capacity 
of loving." But, — it is the word "life" that expresses this, not the 
eonian limit of it. 

Westcott also takes this up, "Eternal life is that which Paul 
speaks of as the life indeed (I Tim. 6: 19, R. V.), and the life of God 
(Eph. 4: 18). It is not an endless duration of being in time, but 
being of which time is not a measure." Here again, this may be said 
of the life, but eonian retains its time character and indicates the 
blessing of this life during the Millennial reign. 

Consider a few facts in the history of the word eon. We have it 
transferred direct from Greek into our English dictionaries, its 
equivalent olam also. Its definition there approximates the Scripture 
use. Eon is the same as the Latin aevum; aevi-turnus, shortened into 
ae-turnus — is the English E-ternal, which is thus in itself simply 
age-lasting. The presumptuous "Sempi-ternity," always-lasting, has 
been forced upon it. The words "ever" and "age" also come from 



iiv! ions OP PROGRESSIVE REVELATION SS 

this s;ime Latin acvitm and mean age, so that ever Lasting is simply 

age-lasting from the Latin aevi turnus, But these original raeanin 

liave been so perverted that a due respect for Scripture can be best 
shown by using the original eon, eonian. The dead language is 
unchanged, but the living has changed as above. 

Professor Lewis says "ever" (German twig) was originally a 
noun denoting :»ge, just like the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew words 
corresponding to it. He says of Ps. 90:3, "from everlasting to 
everlasting is vague; it is in fact absurd** He would render it "from 
world to world." Why avoid the exact, "From olain to olam," "from 
eon to eon," or the more common "from age to age?" He also says, 
"This language is sometimes employed hyperbolically, as in, 'This 
place which I gave to your fathers from olam, and on to olam,' or 
forever, if we take, if we have faith in its higher spiritual sense of the 
eternal settlement, the eternal rest, of which the settlement in Canaan 

. the appointed type." He gives the following texts where olam 
might be rendered world: "Ps. 145:13, Thy Kingdom is for the 
worlds." But why not simply "for the eons?" (olamim, plural) ; 
and so Ps. 106: 31, 48, Hab. 3: 6. "In Jer. 10: 10, God of life, King 
of the world." Why not "of the eon?" "Deut. 33: 27, arms of the 
world, that is that support the world movement." (Better, God is above 
him from of old (Qedern) and his arms underneath for the eon.) 

The Septuagint, in common use in the time of Christ, thus 
rendered the Hebrew olam. Olam occurs plural 11 times; with the 
Mosaic ordinances and other things which are "done away," S2 times; 
from olam, 26 times; to olam, 169 times; with ad, 99 times; absurd 
renderings, 10 times. Here is the usage of 80 per cent where a limited 
ruse is required by Scripture itself, not by any "of course" argument. 
When we learn to use eon and eonian, discarding all translations, tin- 
meaning of many passages will be more clearly seen. See Isa. 26: 4, 
Rock of the eons; Ps. 145: 13, Kingdom of all the eons; Gen. 49: 26, 
eonian hills; Ex. 28:43, Aaron's garments; Kx. 21:6, slave for 
olam, his lifetime; Ps. 90:2, from olam to olam; Joel 2: 2, hath not 
been from olam; II Chron. 30: 8, Sanctuary which He hath sanctified 
for olam; Zech. 1 : 5, do they live unto the olam; Ps. 119: 112, for- 
ever even unto the end. What nut this absurd rendering mean? 
A correct reading would be "for the eonian reward." What has 
been said of eon in the New Testament is just as true of olam in the 
( )ld Testament. Both mean a period of time, not definite, but limited. 



56 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Dean Plumptre says, "I fail to find, as it is used in the Greek fathers, 
any instance in which the idea of time duration is eliminated." 

Prof. Taylor Lewis says, "The conception of absolute endlessness 
as etymological in olam or eon would clearly have prevented plurals." 
He has an excursus on olamic words, in Lange's Commentary. He 
acknowledges its limited sense in Eccl. 1:3, "The earth abideth 
olam." He would render it "for the world" or "for the world-time" 
as in Eccl. 3: 11, "not a space-world." "It may mean forever when 
the context clearly demands it." This is a statement often made. As 
Robert Anderson puts it, these olamic, eonian words are "like a 
chameleon taking on color from environment." 

The idea is thus formulated ; "Olam and eon are limited in sense 
when used with what is limited in nature, but unlimited in sense 
when used with what is unlimited in nature." Let us try it. In 
"God of the eons" it is unlimited because God is. In God of the 
whole earth, the earth is unlimited because God is. According to this 
a useless word. In the expression, "Eonian God," the adjective does 
not mean endless necessarily, any more than "God's day" makes the 
day endless. 

Are God's words so indeterminate in use? In the expression, 
"Eternal times," are both words chameleonic? There is a shadow 
of fact in this idea of words, but if should not mar a thoroughly 
definite Scripture doctrine of the eons. 

Lewis says, "Neither olam nor eon has ever the sense of cosmos 
in Bible use; this idea was Talmudic, where a smattering of Greek 
science had leaked into their exclusive Judaism. They, however, 
retained the time sense and spoke of "this" olam and "the olam to 
come." In those days they were not speculating on space — worlds, 
but they, like all humans, had a blessed eon to come in their heart. 

This unqualified argument suffers by what the Doctor says else- 
where in Gen. 17: 8, "I will give . . . the land . . . for an ever- 
lasting [olam] possession," which is contradicted by II Peter 3:10, 
"the earth . . . shall be burned up." "Of course, in this case, 
everlasting means only as long as the earth shall last, and there are 
other cases where the word has time limits. BUT, where the word 
is used with reference to the punishment of the wicked, time has 
passed out of the consideration altogether, and it is everlasting after 
time shall be no longer, everlasting without any kind of limit known 
to our understanding. Indeed, this word everlasting [aionios] is the 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 57 

strongest word in the Greek language to express the idea of endless- 
ness." "While it is sometimes employed in the limited sense, it is also 
employed at other times where no limit can be placed upon it." 

Professor Lewis continues, "It is necessary (?) to use this positive 
finite term to express an infinite idea strictly transcending all language, 
unless it is to be poorly represented by a conceptionless negative word, 
which, although logically correct, is far inferior in vividness and 
power to some vast though finite term, which by its very greatness 
and immeasurability, raises in the mind something beyond and ever 
still beyond, worlds without end. The effect is still further increased 
by plurals and reduplications, such as the Hebrew olams, and olams 
of olams, the Greek eons of eons, and the Latin secula seculorum, or 
our modern phrase for ever and ever, where 'ever' was originally a 
noun denoting age or vast period, just like the Greek, Latin, and 
Hebrew words corresponding to it." "The eon of the earth, in 
Eccl. i : 3, transcends the eon of a man, his generation, or lifetime." 
In all this "striving after wind" we might bear in mind that we have 
the definite time in years of two, and probably three, of these eons 
in which the relation of man to God is considered; namely, 1,656, 
4,344 and 1,000 years for the 2d, 3d and 4th respectively. But 
Systematic Theology demands an "eternity" and the Bible must 
produce it, so Professor Lewis has the following: 

"Another mode of impressing the idea of absolute eternity is by 
the general scenic representations of the context, which bring up the 
thought of finality in the passage, giving it the aspect of something 
settled, never to be disturbed, having nothing beyond that can possibly 
change it, as in that most impressive close of Matthew 25." Strange 
that a judgment of a small part of humanity, the nations living when 
the Lord comes at the beginning of His Millennial reign, their pos- 
sible participation in that Kingdom decided by the performance or 
neglect of a few kind acts, should appear to a profound theologian 
to bear such a semblance of finality! 

Professor Lewis calls it a narrow idea, that finite ideas of time 
and space should not be conceived of as of force in God's eternity. 
"What a narrow idea," he says, "that the great antepast and the great 
future, after this brief olam has passed away, are to have no 
chronology of a higher kind, no other worlds, and worlds of worlds, 
succeeding each other in number and variety inconceivable!" Just so, 
inconceivable! Then why try to express a conceptionless idea? — 



58 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

f 

Answer: Because "striving after wind" is common to our restless 
humanity. 

Stuart, on Eccl. 12:1, says, however, "Time, divided either in 
smaller or greater eons, is not predicable of a future state." 

Professor Lewis says correctly, though inconsistently, "Neither 
olam nor eon has ever the sense of cosmos in Bible use." If Scripture 
speaks of "worlds," cosmos is the word used (Heb. tebel) , not 
olam nor eon. 

"Do not these plurals weaken Matt. 25 : 46 as a proof text for 
endless punishment?" says Lewis, who adds, "Stress must not be put 
on this time-sense of eonian. Another method is much more impres- 
sive and cavil-silencing. It is to INSIST on that dread aspect of 
finality that appears not in single words merely, but in the power and 
vividness of the language taken as a whole." "The parabolic images 
evidently [this is the "of course" argument] represent a closing scene 
('parabolic' is questionable, even though an illustration of sheep and 
goats is used), closing one dispensation, but as evidently opening 
another, 'enter in.' " That Lewis is not a pre-millennarian is seen 
by his next sentence, and this dispensational confusion adds to the 
profoundness of his remarks. He says again, "It is the last great act 
in the drama of human existence, of the human world or eon, if not 
of the cosmical, the 'end' of Matt. 13: 39, the settlement, the reckon- 
ing of the world, or more strongly Worlds (Heb. 9: 26), when 'God 
demands again the ages fled' (Eccl. 3: 15). At all events, there is 
a judgment; there comes, at last, an end; sentence is pronounced; 
the condemned go away into eonian punishment, the righteous into 
eonian life. The adjective may mean an existence, a duration, meas- 
ured by eons — but it would be more in accordance with the plainest 
etymological usage to give it simply the sense of olamic or eonian. 
These shall go away into the punishment (kolasis, restraint, imprison- 
ment) of the world to come, and these into the life of the world 
to come. This is all we can etymologically or exegetically make of 
the word in this passage." But why make anything other out of it 
than "eon to come?" 

In Syriac, "that which belongs to the olam" (singular) is the 
rendering of aionios in Matt. 19: 16, Luke 18: 18, John 3 : 15, Acts 
13 : 46, I Tim. 6: 12, etc. 

Some of these ideas, if followed up, would have brought the truth 
into clearer light, but they are mentioned only to turn from them 



\ 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 59 

to the Platonic tradition, to the strictly legal aspect, natural, not 
spiritual. 

Professor Lewis then repeats Matt. 25 : 46 and says, "There is 
no more, let no one add to it; let no one take away!" But the Bible 
was not finished with the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. Paul 
claims authority to add much. Why shut the door? 

One last word from the Professor: "All these olamic expressions 
are utterly at war with the thought of the great eternal past and 
future as blank undivided durations, which would confine all history 
and all chronology to this brief eon we call time." Say "all revealed 
history" and this last inference is a correct statement of the case, 
and one of the things contended for in this book. 

It is admitted by scholars that olamic and eonian do not mean 
endless, and that an unlimited meaning is forced upon them. But 
God could find a word positively meaning endless if He wanted to 
express such an idea; just as missionaries translating the Bible have 
to "lend" a word where the native vocabulary has no equivalent. 
Loan words are to be found in abundance in the English dictionary. 

Dr. W. G. T. Shedd's idea is that there are but two eons : "The 
present age is time, the future age is eternity, that is, a relative 
eternity, — not absolute eternity which has no beginning as well as 
no ending. The punishment of the wicked is more properly endless 
than eternal. . . . The Revisers' rendering of Titus 1 : 2 by 
'before times eternal' involves the absurdity that a Divine promise 
is made prior to eternity." Of the various forms, plural and com- 
pound, they are dismissed summarily: "All alike denote the one 
infinite and endless eon or age." Which tautological dictum, in 
common with the host of similar assertions, it is useless to contend 
against. A Berean Believer and a Systematic Theologian are poles 
apart in their point of view. The aim of Professor Shedd is seen in 
his conclusion, "If therefore the punishment of the wicked occurs in 
the present eon, it is eonian in the sense of temporal, but if it occurs 
in the future eon, it is eonian in the sense of endless. The adjective 
takes its meaning from the noun." 

Test the Doctor's theory. Heb. 5 : 6, "a priest for the eon," and 
ask which one of the two? I Phil. 3: 18, "The day of the eon," 
time or eternity? Heb. 1 : 8, "the eon of the eons;" Eph. 3:21, "The 
eon of the eons;" Gal. 1 : 4, Luke 1 : 33, John 8: 51, 52, Heb. 9: 26, 
"end of the eons;" Eph. 2:7, "eons to come;" Eph. 3:11; I Tim. 



60 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

i: 17; Heb. 1:2, 11:3. All these distinctions are brushed aside as 
meaningless. He. calls the definite plurals a rhetorical figure. Evi- 
dently the Millennial reign of the eon to come is not in his "system." 
The young theolog accepts the teaching that "there are two limited 
periods, one finite, and the other infinite. Until a man dies he is in 
this world (the now eon, II Peter 3 : 7) ; after death he is in the 
future world (eon) ." He passes examination, is ordained, and whether 
he preaches this theory or not, his ministry is colored by it. We might 
ask for some fixing of the time when finite eternity ends and infinite 
eternity begins, but the reader can fix that point for himself. (But 
— can he?) 

Further Dr. Shedd says of aionios, adj., substantive eon. "It is a 
time word. It denotes duration more or less, but does not determine 
its length. God has duration, and angels have duration. The 
Creator has an eon, and the creature has art eon (his lifetime, Ps. 
39:5)." It is said, properly, that terms of time and space do not 
apply to God, nor to the so-called eternity. Everything has its eon. 
Creation is wrought out in eons. But to say that God has his eon is 
a thoroughly pagan idea, and was taught by Plato. It does not accord 
with the Bible usage of the word. 

An eon is the season required for full development, from the 
germinal seed through growth to resurrection fruitage. "First the 
blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." "For everything 
there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." 
( Eccl. 3:1.) 

Here is a word in constant Bible use from Moses to Paul, occur- 
ring 652 times in Scripture, whose meaning has been disputed for 
eighteen centuries. This dispute is kept alive by ecclesiastical au- 
thorities, who deem the threat of endless hell-fire necessary to main- 
tain the high seats of spiritual dominance which they have usurped, 
from "popes" down to "chief men among the brethren." 

On the very first occurrence, its meaning should be seen. 
Gen. 3 : 22, and Jehovah Elohim said, "Behold the man is become 
as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his 
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live le-olam" 
(unto the olam, or for the olam, Greek, eis ton aiona, for the eon). 
The opening of Genesis shows the work of the Creative Word to be 
in progressive stages. That "for the eon" should be entirely outside 
of this Divine program, or strictly within it, is for the spiritual 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 6 1 

perception of faith to decide. The true rendering will become more 
and more apparent as the reference to the eons is traced through the 
book. The marked use of the phrase, "the eons of the eons," should 
then be seen to refer to the last two eons in which the glory of the 
Word of God, Son of Man, Son of God, is unveiled. The first 
three of the eons have been "evil," the last two see the end of evil in 
the complete victory of Christ Jesus. 

Nearly every one of the Bible writers uses the word EON or its 
equivalent, OLAM. They all use it consistently and harmoniously, 
under inspiration, to indicate divinely appointed periods of time. 
A study of the text reveals five main eons in the course of the program 
from Alpha to Omega, in which the Living Word "Sent forth" from 
God, initiates, carries on, and completes the purpose of God called 
"the purpose of the eons." (Eph. 3: 11.) These were made "by the 
Son," and "framed" (Heb. 1:2, 11:3). Moses used it in "The Law" 
73 times, 37 of which are applied to statutes that are "done away," 
and most of the others are applied to things as obviously temporary. 
This establishes usage that was accepted and followed by Samuel, 
David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and ten of the minor 
prophets. 

See Moses, in Ex. 12: 14, 17, 24, who establishes the Passover 
ordinance for the eon. This disappears in the Millennial reign. 
Samuel, in II Sam. 12: 10, the sword shall not depart from the house 
of David for the eon; this does not follow David's house into the 
Millennium. David, in Ps. 143: 3, speaks of the eonian dead; Isaiah, 
in 32: 14, the watch towers to become dens for wild asses for the eon; 
Jer. 5 : 22, the sand as the bound of the sea until the eon when there 
shall be no more sea; Ezek. 43:7, will dwell among the children 
of Israel for the eon, the Millennial eon; Dan. 12: 2, to eonian life, 
of the Millennial Kingdom. 

The Septuagint uses Eonian some 150 times, to render the age 
limited olam of such passages as Prov. 22:28, Eonian landmarks; 
Ps. 77: 5, Eonian years; Ex. 12: 14, Lev. 23: 14, the Eonian statutes 
of the ritual, etc. The writers and early readers of the New Testa- 
ment did not quote this Old Testament Version with this meaning, 
and then use it immediately in a contradictory sense. No; the Bible 
use of this word, as of all others, is consistent. It condemns the 
rendering of Eonian by any word meaning endless. 

Dean Gray writes, "Men have heard that the word translated 



62 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

'eternal' and 'everlasting' does not in the Greek and pagan usage 
always or absolutely convey the idea of eternity. And they have 
taken refuge from the fear of punishment for sin in this rumor." 
Rumor? Take a Concordance and a copy of the American Revised 
Version. The Concordance shows this word eon rendered "forever" 
64 times. The American Revised Version has in 49 of these places 
the note in the margin, Greek, "Age." Some who have not heard 
the rumor about pagan Greek eons have come across this limitation 
with the Bible before them. The fact is that eon with its Hebrew 
equivalent occurs 652 times. In more than half of these cases it is 
not translated by words of unlimited sense, and after a thorough 
consideration, many students have a confirmed belief that not in one 
of these 652 cases is unlimited duration expressed. In all these cases 
"eon" is the proper English for the noun, and "eonian" for the 
adjective. (See English dictionary "eon" and "olam.") Jonah was 
in the belly of the fish for the eon, not forever. The Hebrew slave 
served his master for his eon, not forever. The "statutes" of the law 
were for the eon, not forever; they were to be "done away." The 
Gospel of Rev. 14:9 will not be "everlasting." Read it; it is for 
the last three and a half years of this present evil eon, the day of 
wrath. Why does Dean Gray lug in "rumor" from paganism as 
the "refuge" to which "men flee from the fear of punishment for sin?" 
He continues, "Satan has deceived them to believe that the pleasures 
of sin for a season were worth the experience of punishment, no 
matter how long nor how severe, if only it have an end." Dean Gray 
also says, "It may be that as the Greeks used the word, it had the 
significance of a vague eternity, confused and dark, but (let us re- 
member this), pagan words used by New Testament writers take 
the New Testament ideas." Yes! Surely. Eon, in the Greek New 
Testament, and in the English dictionary, means an "age," which is 
a limited period. 

Gal. 1 : 4, "This present evil eon" (not dispensation). Do you 
know when this began, and what is said of events that close it? 
Is not this knowledge necessary if you teach doctrines in which this 
word eon is an important element? How many of these 652 passages 
have you examined before you preach "eternity?" 

Dean Torrey says, "All reasoning by finite men as to what an 
infinitely wise God must do are utterly futile and an utter waste of 
time" — and — "It is the most ludicrous conceit for beings so limited 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 63 

and foolish as the wisest of men are to attempt to dogmatize how a 
God of infinite wisdom must act." True, let us all keep within the 
limits of the eons where the Son of God meets us with Divine teach- 
ing, and leave a so-called eternity alone as beyond our comprehension. 
Then in place of Endless Law, Endless Sin, Endless Death, we will 
learn that Law is "done away" that Gospel ministry might come in ; 
that sin was put away by the sacrifice of Himself; and that death 
shall be no more. The Dean describes a certain criminal and says 
indignantly, "If there is not an eternal hell for that kind of man, 
there ought to be." Here he voices the intuitive feeling of the fallen 
natural man under law, rather than the gospel. 

When God speaks to man of time, he describes it by revolutions 
and not by a straight line which has no beginning nor end, even 
though we define it as the shortest distance between two points. 
Farrar says, "To make eternity a synonym of time endlessly prolonged 
is a conception as mean in philosophy as it is false theologically." 
Tertullian says, "Eternity has no time; it is itself all time." Thomas 
Aquinas says, "Eternity has no succession, but it exists altogether." 
Bishop Pearson says, "The duration of eternity is indivisible and all 
at once." Bishop Beveridge says, "God is Himself eternity — eternity 
without time." Spinoza says, "By eternity I understand abstract 
existence." Thomas Erskine says, "I think eternal means essential 
in opposition to phenomenal." This is all natural metaphysics and 
has no bearing on the Bible use of "eonian." 

Here is a hint that if followed up would have done much to clear 
the question of its apparent difficulty. "The Jews had never faced 
the abstract conception of endlessness." It is beyond our finite grasp. 
The conception of an endless straight line rather than a cycle may 
involve a sort of absurdity. Professor Challis says, "The difficulty 
is in the preconception of most persons, that time and space have 
an independent existence, although the teaching of Scripture is op- 
posed to this view." 

Olam in connection with ad, the particle or the noun; Lewis de- 
fines ad, "transition to, arrival and going beyond." "It is an addition 
to olam, which could not then mean endless, which would have no 
'beyond.' Isa. 45: 17 has both the noun and the preposition. 
Rev. 22:5, 'the eons of the eons' used to express the immeasurable, 
falls short as a conception of endless — yet it is aiming at it." Scripture 
words should not be charged with this indefiniteness. 
5 



64 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Eccl. 3:14, What God doeth shall be finished in the eons. There 
is no adding to it — and there is no taking from it." 

Ps. 33: 11, But the plans of the LORD last for the eon, the 
designs of His heart for all times (to generation and generation). 

Of the disciplinary evils to be brought on Israel, Jeremiah says 
(Jer. 23: 40), "And I will bring an olamic reproach upon you, and 
an olamic shame, which shall not be forgotten." The Septuagint 
has eonian reproach (Rom. 15:3; Matt. 5: 11, 27:44), and eonian 
dishonor, vileness (Rom. 1 : 26, 9:21), and Moses says (Deut. 
28:45,46), "These curses shall come on thee and pursue thee till 
thou be destroyed; and they shall be upon thee for a sign, and upon 
thy children for olam." 

Deut. 23 : 3-6, Moab and Ammon, They shall not come into the 
congregation of the Lord ad olam (during the eon), and thou shalt 
not seek their peace olam (for the eon). Ad olam is more commonly 
rendered (LXX) eos tou aionas, till the eon, as in Gen. 13:15; 
Josh. 4:4-7. The adjective eonian is used in the Septuagint in 
Ex. 12 : 14, 17 of the Passover ; 27 : 21 of the tabernacle service ; 28 : 43 
of the priestly office of Aaron's sons; Lev. 6: 18 of the meat offering, 
called eonian law. 

II Cor. 4: 17, "eonian," if endless, could not be more so by the 
words huperbolen eis huperbolen, surpassing unto surpassing, or ex- 
ceeding. 

The resurrection "life" of the New Testament, and the fact that 
there shall be no more death, may involve endlessness, but our limited 
minds are incapable of comprehending such an idea. We can but 
follow Scripture and be content with its negative terms, "not-finite," 
though for sake of convenience we may use "sempiternity" as a crutch 
for our halting speculations, theories, guesses. 

That Ancient Eon, antediluvian, must have heard echoes from 
Eden, "Ye shall be as gods," and man, having been disappointed in 
the fruit of the forbidden tree, fell before Satanic agents that offered 
the same thing under conditions becoming more and more evil. 

If eonian does not necessarily mean endless, anyone has a right to 
reject that meaning. Argument built on this meaning collapses. 

"Le-Olam, means merely a long time, i.e., till the year of jubilee." 
(Ibn Ezra.) 

Professor Knapp, of Halle, "The Hebrew was destitute of any 
single word to express endless duration. The pure idea of eternity is 



FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 65 

too abstract to have been conceived in the early ages of the world, 
and accordingly is not found in any of the ancient languages" 
(O Metaphysical Modern, have you conceived the idea, or only 
stolen a word?). 

Olshausen, "The Bible has no expression for timelessness. All 
the biblical terms imply or denote long periods." 

Lexicographers note the fact that it was not until after the fifth 
century that theologians began to read the sense of endlessness into 
Bible words. 

Aidios, — Aristotle and Plato used it of endlessness, but in the 
Bible it is the invisible. This might meet the idea of Maurice and 
metaphysicians. 

Enough has been brought to view to justify the charge of error 
and superficial treatment of Scripture in the defense of the popular 
ideas of "eternity," and to spur all lovers of truth to give more 
earnest heed to all that has a bearing on the subject. 



CHAPTER V 
NATURAL RELIGION 

Natural Religion results from the efforts of all sorts and conditions 
of men to solve the problems of existence, environment, and destiny 
without the help of any Divine teaching. Anybody can formulate 
a religion for himself. The Greeks have their philosophy, and an 
unknown God. The African scares his spouse with a Mumbo- 
Jumbo. There is money in it. These religions are wide of the 
mark, but an inch of a miss is as good as a mile. 

There is, however, a natural, reasonable conclusion, that has 
Divine approval. If any man comes to that conclusion, he will then 
be met with some authoritative word of God that introduces him to 
a new relation. The natural man can only grope until God comes to 
his aid. We see a discussion of it in Job. Peter recognizes it in his 
address to Cornelius (Acts 10: 34, 35). Paul sets forth its prin- 
ciples correctly in Rom. 1 : 18 to 2: 16. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes 
gives the correct issue (Eccl. 12 : 12, 13) . It will be the only resource 
during the last three and a half years of this eon. The Angel pro- 
claims it, flying in mid-heaven, in language like that of Ecclesiastes. 
There is no other Gospel then. (Rev. 14: 7.) The elements of the 
human problem are: 

1. A son of Adam capable of observing and reasoning. 

2. The visible creation in constant motion and change. 

3. Law, sin, penalty. 

4. Conscience. 

5. An intuitive demand that justice be vindicated, — and there 
follows the apparent necessity for a future existence to right the 
wrongs of this life, therefore, — 

6. The immortality of the soul (apart from the body, — made 
necessary by this Platonic reasoning). 

7. Elysium to reward the good, and Tartarus for the bad is the 
conclusion of the majority. 

8. Various speculations as to the form and duration of these 
retributive awards. 

Rom. 1: 18 to 2: 16, The invisible power and divinity indicated 
by the creation should lead men to seek God! They will not be 
disappointed if they do, for God is seeking them. If they turn away, 

66 



NATURAL RELIGION 67 

they suffer, not penalty for sin, but the bitter experiences of ignorance 
and unbelief. These Gentiles had no arbitrary standard of right; 
"they are a law unto themselves, written in their hearts," the inner 
man, which approves of good as desirable, whether conscience accuses 
or excuses the outward act. (Rom. 2: 14, 15.) If justice is to deal 
according to each individual case, books must be kept, and so there 
is a recording angel provided. Many anticipate that in balancing 
accounts there may be something left over of credits or debits, which 
should be met by extra awards or pains. You see the gospel of 
superabundant grace is not allowed in this philosophical court of law. 

Given these factors, and the most gifted philosophers work out 
endless future punishment for the bad as a necessary antithesis to the 
duration of the felicity of the good. This pagan reasoning has had 
a world-wide influence on thinking men for some 2,200 years. It has 
been grafted into Christianity and is in the creeds of sects, schools of 
Divinity, and Bible Institutes. Indeed, it is found in Egyptian 
theology; but Moses was taught of God, and when the covenant of 
law was established, it was accompanied by atonement. 

There is one more thing that plays a part in man's religion. God 
has put into the heart of man the expectation of better things; other- 
wise despair would paralyze all effort. The Preacher says ( Eccl. 3 : 
10, 11 ), "I have examined the endeavors that God has appointed 
for the children of Adam by which to develop themselves. He hath 
made everything beautiful in its season. He hath also placed The Eon 
in their minds, yet so that man cannot find out the work God does 
from beginning to end." This hope is voiced in the song, "There's 
a good time coming, boys, wait a little longer." That good time is 
the Millennial eon that men indefinitely hope for. But God's plan 
of the eons is hidden from all possibility of discovery by man's unaided 
powers. It is a spiritual revelation of the Gospel of grace and glory, 
that God alone can give, and that faith alone can receive. "Faith 
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." The whole 
creation groans, but hopes. (Rom. 8: 18-23.) 

But Natural Religion has gone astray. Men love darkness as a 
cloak. Its vilest conditions are recorded in Rom. 1: 18-32, but its 
more dangerous phase is its religious philosophy; for it is this that 
has vitiated Christianity from the second century. It is preached in 
so-called Christian pulpits today. Given — man, law, sin, an uneasy 
conscience, and death before proper rewards and penalties vindicate 



68 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

man's intuitive sense of justice, — and philosophy, following Plato's 
lead, will work out the necessity of a future existence in which retri- 
bution shall establish the right. The immortality of the soul thus 
becomes a necessary doctrine. Platonism sees no resurrection of the 
body, Neo-Platonism mixes in some ideas got from Christianity, but 
the poison remains. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles publishes a 
pamphlet in which is a "statement of doctrine" in Fourteen Articles, 
one of which is "The Immortality of the Soul," and another of which 
is "The Endless Punishment of the Impenitent." This is called the 
common creed of Evangelical Christendom. 

"As in Adam all die" (I Cor. 15:22). If the soul and spirit 
have existence between death and resurrection, whether conscious or 
unconscious, it is through and in the risen Christ, "Who only hath 
incorruptibility." Death has ended the old Adam, the law, the sin, 
the old creation. As Christ gave Himself a ransom for all, He takes 
into his rightful possession and care the body, soul, and spirit of 
every man when the Adamic existence goes. It is only on this basis 
that spirit can be conscious in Thanatos. There is no immortality 
in the Death state nor in resurrection other than this which partakes 
of the New Creation. It is in Christ that the children of Adam 
"live and move and have their being." "He giveth to all life and 
breath and all things." When Christ, the Head of the old creation, 
died, that was the end of Adam, — body, soul, spirit, sin, and penalty. 
In the living seed of the Living Word is the only possibility of future 
existence. In Adam, Death ends all. But the immortality of the 
sinful Adamic soul is logically necessary in the natural argument for 
endless punishment for sin. It is this Adamic soul that is enmity to 
God and that is not subject to God, neither can be. The butterfly 
is a life out of death; the caterpillar existence ends. There 
are no sinners in Thanatos. He that is dead is freed from sin. 
(Rom. 6:7.) The end of sin is death; the wages of sin is death 
(Jas. 1 : 15 ; Rom. 6: 23). Robert Anderson, though an advocate of 
endless punishment, says, "Where in Scripture is eternal torment 
said to be the penalty for sin?" But are not all men to appear in 
judgment, to give account, to receive evil for evil and good for good? 
This will be taken up in Chapter VII. Suffice to say that resurrection 
should be kept strictly where it belongs as part of Divine revelation. 
The aim of this chapter is to keep Natural Religion to its own sphere, 
that we may be able to discern what is of man and what is of God. 



NATURAL RELIGION 69 

The Dean of the Chicago Bible Institute advocates the doctrine 
of endless penalty for sin, using Luke 16 for his text, and, strangely 
enough, he would confirm it by an appeal to this pagan philosophy. 
He says, "Natural religions show that eternal punishment was com- 
monly believed and taught by the ancient pagan world. The wise 
men of paganism had no revelation but that of nature, but apparently 
it was sufficient to impress them with this fact. In Egypt, in Persia, 
in Greece and in Rome was this true. Celsus, a Greek philosopher 
of the second century, may be sufficient to quote, who asserted that 
'from of old it was the universal belief that the wicked shall suffer 
endless pains.' " Celsus argued that Christianity was not needed if 
this was also its chief doctrine! Every revelation of God is gospel, 
but the conclusions of Natural Religion are based on law and its execu- 
tion. Its creator is no Savior, but "justice" is the name which it places 
above every name that is named, and they piously talk of "The Great 
Moral Governor of the Universe." This is a filling mouthful, and 
it might pass if the word "moral" was omitted. "Morality" belongs 
to the law; it has to do with the manners of a man. Godliness is a 
different thing. Adam in the garden had the created righteousness 
of a man, and as such could be called "manly." But he did not have 
"godliness;" that was offered to him as a bait. Now godliness 
requires a knowledge of God, a walk with God, but how can two 
walk together if they be not agreed? This does not belittle right- 
eousness; it only sees it in its proper place. "The wrath of God is 
revealed from Heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 
men," two things (Rom. 1 : 18). It was because of Adam's lack of 
godliness, and ignorance of what it was, that he was allowed to lose 
his perfect manliness, that in his helplessness he might seek for God. 
Universal restoration is not a biblical expression, but the reconcilia- 
tion of the universe is found in Col. 1 : 20. The Universe is ungodly, 
but in the risen Christ it is learning godliness. 

One Dean says, "We cannot decide this [endless penalty for sin] 
by asking what the majority of supposedly reliable theologians believe, 
neither can we decide it by reasoning." True, nor by an appeal to 
natural pagan religions, highly philosophical though they may be. 
Their teaching is the genesis of the belief. This development of 
natural reasoning is repeated today in the conscience of most people 
who have no knowledge of the Gospel of God. All men's consciences 
respond to law naturally. They know they are wrong ; they know that 



7<D CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

all law must have a penalty for violation; they have believed in a 
future life, though wrongly supposing immortality to be in Adam; 
they have made the penalty for sin hell, and the reward for righteous- 
ness, heaven. All this apart from any Bible revelation. There was 
some knowledge of truth to begin with, but it was perverted, and 
perversion, from Babel of Genesis to Babylon of the Unveiling, is 
the special evil of "the present evil eon" (Gal. 1:4, Rom. 1: 18). 
And at the Great White Throne the Dead will be there ignorant of 
Gospel, and unbelieving in truth about God, believing a lie, and with 
a fearful looking forward to the penalty which they logically assume 
to be due. They do not know God; they as natural know only the 
natural ; they do not believe the good news that all sin was put away 
at the cross (Heb. 9: 26, John 1 : 29) ; that God is not charging their 
sins to their account (II Cor. 5 : 19) . They are, so far as their knowl- 
edge goes, still in the bondage of the old creation and the law, though 
both were done away in the death of Christ (II Cor. 5 : 14, 3 : 7, 14). 

Natural Religion having provided an immortal Adamic soul to 
meet retributive justice which the conditions of this life did not 
satisfy, then gives itself to the consideration of appropriate rewards 
and punishments. The theory demands them both, but graded, to 
meet all degrees of character, good, bad and middling. There is pro- 
vided an Elysium, Happy Hunting Grounds, a Heavenly Harem for 
the righteous, and a Tartarus or a hell of some sort for the wrong-doer. 

"In Christ shall all be made alive," and while a "never-dying, sin- 
ful soul" who was excluded from the benefits of the Savior's work 
might be conceived of as suffering for endless sin endlessly, yet if it is 
made alive in Christ, there is hope ; for how can one think of eternal 
misery in Christ? And there it is, "so in Christ shall all be made 
alive." Now give Luke 20 : 36 its due weight, "and they are sons of 
God, being sons of the resurrection." Where does the doctrine come 
from that the wicked dead shall be raised, judged as sinners, and sent 
to suffer endless penalty for sin ? I repeat Anderson's question. Where 
in Scripture is endless torment said to be the penalty for sin? First, 
"endless" must be justified as a rendering for eonian; second, it must 
be shown that death is not the penalty for sin, and that no penalty 
for sin has been inflicted personally or vicariously; third, that Jesus, 
to whom all judgment has been committed, is to endlessly inflict the 
punishment, as the good old divine, Boston, described it, "holding the 
sinner with one hand while he torments him with the other," for 



NATURAL RELIGION 7 1 

this sufferer exists only "in Christ." A conception so strange and 
incongruous that its evidently overdone attempt to horrify is an 
antidote for its obscenity! It gives it an air of unreality. 

Here is how the philosophers reason: 

Dr. Cesare Lombroso, "The force which has created man, being 
intelligent, must follow its work of order and organization beyond 
the narrow limits of nature, which are known to us by the senses; 
viz., the source, order and justice which must repair the inequalities 
of life." 

Professor Selo, "There is an intelligent principle in control of 
the Universe. This is the only solution that satisfies the mind. (Rom. 
1 : 20, aidios, invisible.) Occult phenomena are the only direct evi- 
dence of immortality. There are facts, though shadowed by doubt. 
Man has always held that he could communicate with the dead. We 
may fairly conjecture that we may be on the verge of something like 
a demonstration that individual consciousness does survive the death 
of the body by which it was nurtured." 

Prof. H. L. Hartzog, "The soul continues to exist because Science 
teaches that nothing can be annihilated." 

Pascal, "The immortality of the soul is a matter that concerns us 
so much, that affects us so deeply, that we must have lost all senti- 
ment if its investigation leaves us indifferent." 

Adam's knowledge of Jehovah was natural, not spiritual; that is, 
he recognized in the brief period of Jehovah's presence the first prin- 
ciple of Natural Religion, which is that the Creator should be given 
due deference. But instead of seeking revelation in the school of 
Divine Wisdom, he turned to the school of experience, and slaved 
to meet its expenses. Wisdom's house of seven pillars was ready. 
The fear of the Lord was the initiation, the tree of life was there; 
but law was there, and penalty, and sin, and discipline, a long, long, 
weary way around the circle to get back to where he started, that he 
might be taught of God. His education is yet to begin, we may infer 
from Scripture. But Abel entered. He saw no use to follow the 
natural religious wandering of his father. He ceased to reason, he 
shut his mouth, he went to Wisdom's door, and was accepted. Here 
was "the beginning of wisdom" for Abel. He did not go very far 
on earth, but when Christ Jesus ascended and led captivity captive, 
Abel was placed where he had the best of facilities for finishing his 
education. Natural religionists have nearly all followed Adam and 



72 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Cain. They have turned from the Tree of Life, and have all gone 
astray. They labor and are heavy laden ; they work, they strive, they 
groan, they agonize; they — but the history of 6,000 years is full of 
what they have done, and where are they today? Toiling, hopeless, 
deceived and deceiving, failures in government, in religion, and in 
their man-made gods of Science, Business, Morality, Uplift; with 
temperance societies, Sabbath-observance societies, anti-swearing, anti- 
cigarette vows, Endeavorers, Knights, Leagues of kiddies and of 
nations, covenants, pledges, promises, prayers, fastings, etc., etc. They 
go right on. They do not believe that Jesus is coming to set aside all 
this human scrap, and to bring in effective government, religion, and 
science. Natural religionists should all imitate Abel, and listen to 
Divine teaching. "O fools and slow of heart to believe." Wisdom 
hath builded her house ; she hath set up the seven pillars thereof, and 
the first pillar is "the fear of Jehovah," the Creator. Why not be 
saved and come to the knowledge of God? 

The poets revel in the ideas of Natural Religion: 

Joy, shipmate, joy! 
(Pleased, to my soul, at death, I cry.) 
Our life is closed, our life begins, 
The long, long anchorage we leave. 
The ship is clear! At last, she leaps! 
She swiftly courses from the shore; 
Joy, shipmate, Joy! 

—Whitman. 

Did you think Life was so well provided for, and 
Death, the purport of all Life, is not well provided for? 
Life, life is the tillage, and Death is the harvest according. 

— Whitman. 

Still seems it strange that thou should'st live forever ? 
Is it less strange that thou should'st live at all? 
This is a miracle, and that no more. 

— Young. 

L. Bocle, "Life forces, and in particular the human soul, should 
be considered as analogous (to physical) forces; they participate in 
the permanency of these forces, and are capable perhaps of transfor- 
mation after death, but are not destructible." Should it be said that 
the transformation might affect the consciousness. Answer: "That is 
necessarily recovered, as all the doings and acts of our life are regis- 
tered in the Universe! The rays which have been the witness of 



NATURAL RELIGION 73 

these doings and acts carry them away to celestial space, where one 
can find again the image of deeds accomplished many years ago (pho- 
tographed, filmed, reeled, words phonographed on starry discs). 
Nothing is lost in nature, and less than all other forces the soul, which 
is the author of deeds and acts thus preserved; it seems therefore at 
a certain moment of its evolution the soul ought to be able to recall 
memories of the present life should they have been effaced [Son re- 
member, Luke 16], and in this lies the principal element of reward 
or punishment in the ultra-terrestrial life!" 

Law is the prime element in Natural Religion. Jehovah's 
covenant with Israel at Sinai is on the basis of law. The 7th day 
is the seal of that covenant, "for in six days Jehovah made heavens 
and earth, the sea and all that in them is." Creation is the evidence 
for Natural Religion. So Jehovah preaches creation to Job through 
four chapters and produces the result intended, that is "the fear of 
the Lord." This also is the result in Eccl. 12: 13, Acts 10: 34, 35, 
Rom. 1 : 18 to 3: 20, especially 2:6-11, Rev. 14: 7. 

But the Tree of Life is seen in the first word of the Decalog, 
"I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of bondage." So here, revealed religion and Natural 
Religion meet. The end of the law, after which it is "done away," is 
"the fear of the Lord," and natural religion goes with it. For "this 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Man should then put 
away his alphabetical blocks and learn to read. Israel would not do 
this, and Christendom joins them in their infantile religious games. 

When Jehovah gives Israel the second tables, an advance is made, 
as is ever the way in the Divine pedagogy. Revealed religion takes 
the place of natural in this one respect; the seal of the Sabbath now 
appeals, not to the visible creation, but to the redemptive work of 
Jehovah, which calls not for logic, but for faith. Many professed 
believers express doubt of that deliverance. 

But Jehovah's covenant with Abraham starts out on the basis of 
faith; it takes in resurrection on the ground of a spiritual perception 
of God. The law and the discipline of the law was added because of 
unbelief! This incident of law ended with the crucifixion. This 
legal lesson was taught even in Eden, and it is profitable if recognized 
as elementary, and that believers are called to a gospel revelation 
"apart from law." Nothing condemns the theologians who furnish 
these kaleidoscopic and chameleonic views of eschatology more than 



74 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

the almost universal appeal to law. This appeal is made by advocates 
of all kinds of ideas from hell-fire for infants, through conditional 
immortality, up to universal Restoration. The latter bear some 
Gospel testimony, but the truth in Scripture language is "The Recon- 
ciliation of the Universe!" (Col. 1 : 20) in Grace. 

The law condemns, — the end of the law is death, — "He that is 
dead is free from law" — and from any further penalty. But where 
is the writer on the question who recalls to us the act which Jehovah 
has in reserve in connection with His famous contract with Israel? 
Why deny or ignore the certainty that in its appointed time 
Deut. 30 : 6 will show the desirability of having for the party of the 
first part One who says, "Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart 
and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, •th at thou mayest live"? "And so all Israel 
shall be saved." The contortional arguments by which zealous 
legalists attempt to belittle and minimize these Divine statements 

would indicate that they endorse the ology (How can we call it 

Theology?) which demands the misery of the damned to insure their 
own heavenly happiness. So wrote the great theologians, St. Thomas 
Aquinas, and Peter Lombard the Master of the sentences, and Luther, 
and Jonathan Edwards, and Boldicke, Andrew Welwood, Samuel 
Hopkins, Newcome in his catechetical sermons. Why not add birds 
of a feather, — Nero, Caligula, Phalares, Mohammed, in Koran 83. 
There are those today who have so little mind of their own that they 
will adopt this blankological language, and imagine that they believe it. 
Awake! thou that sleepest, and arise from among these dead ones, 
and Christ will illuminate you! (Eph. 5: 14.) 

Is this Jehovah God of the Jews only? asks the Hebrew of 
Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, Pharisee of the Pharisees; and 
in the power of the Divine Spirit answers, "He is the God of Gentiles 
as well!" Thus does Paul enlarge; he, himself, is of the elect, but 
he does not limit grace to himself. "Saved by grace" is sung by many 
who rejoice in it as all right for themselves, but fear to proclaim it 
freely, lest others abuse it. 

"Israel is my first-born," says Jehovah, and Messiah is an integral 
part of Israel, even its very Head. Now though the First-born has 
honors and privilege he has official responsibilities also, and God's 



NATURAL RELIGION 75 

dealing with Israel, minutely detailed, is a sample of his method with 
others. (Ex. 4: 23 ; I Tim. 1 : 15, 16.) 

Ezek. 18:4, Behold ! All souls are mine. 

Ezek. 17: 15, Shall he break the covenant and yet escape? 

Ezek., Eighteenth Chapter. 

The mind moves easily along these natural lines of reasoning. 
It is inclined to take the path of least resistance. If our spirits are 
to be taught by the Supreme Spirit, there must be death to the flesh. 
The flesh lusteth against the spirit. Is it not common in a believer's 
experience to be but little troubled by his indulgence in natural reli- 
gion, though it grieves the Holy Spirit; while he is overwhelmed with 
shame by some fleshly action? The SPIRIT of the new man, if 
awake, if exercised, lusts against these legal intoxications — "bewitch- 
ings" Paul calls them. Again, let the new man awake to this, and put 
off the old man with his beggarly elements of natural religion gone 
astray. 

Job 35 : 10, Where is God, my Maker? Who giveth songs in the 
night; who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh 
us wiser than the bird of the heavens? 

Job 36: 22, Who is a teacher like unto Him? saith Elihu. 

Job 37: 13, for correction . 

Job 26: 14: 

"Look! The Raphaim — under the Dead Sea! Sheol! 

Abaddon ! The Northern Expanse ! The suspended earth ! 

The water filled clouds ! The throne behind the black cloud ! 

The circuits of darkness and light! The trembling air! 

The raised up sea! The winds! The whirling serpent!* 

Look! These are a part of his ways, — 

But of Him! we hear but a whisper, 

For who, the voice of His thunder can stand?" 
Men experience the evil, pain, and penalty in this life. The 
universal conscience pleads guilty. Rewards and punishments inade- 
quate to the universal sense of justice demand a continued existence 
that each and every person and act shall receive that which is due. 
Several factors must be taken into account if we are to attain to a 
right view of this topic. Most writers on the subject confine them- 
selves to the strictly legal phase, and come to the conclusions of 
philosophical natural religion. But revealed truth should be allowed 
to decide in all cases by one who would show the obedience of faith. 

*The constellation Draconis. 



CHAPTER VI 
SIN'S PENALTY PAID ONCE FOR ALL 

If what Is said of the eons in Chapter IV is true, there is no 
endless penalty for sin to be considered. As, however, the common 
teaching of all human religions, pagan and Christian, is to the effect 
that in the indefinite future there is to be a grand universal assize, 
a criminal court, passing judicial verdicts which award the felicities 
of some kind of heaven in graduated degrees to the good, the right- 
eous, the holy; and condemning the bad, the sinner, and the vile to 
the various pains and penalties of some kind of a hell; it will be 
necessary to show that this is not Scriptural if the main contentions 
of this book are to be justified. That the general belief is fairly, 
though briefly, stated above will be conceded by nearly all the pro- 
fessors of these religions. Quotations follow to emphasize this fact: 

"Keep in our minds a lively remembrance of that great day in 
which we must give a strict account of our thoughts, words, and 
actions, and according to the works done in the body be eternally 
rewarded or punished by Him whom thou hast appointed the Judge 
of quick and dead, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord." — Episcopal 
Prayer-Book. 

"From Thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation, good Lord 
deliver us." — Litany. 

"The souls of believers are, at their death, made perfect in holi- 
ness, and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies being still 
united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection. At the 
resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly ac- 
knowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly 
blessed in full enjoying of God to all eternity." "The souls of the 
wicked are at death cast into hell, and their bodies kept in their graves 
till the resurrection and judgment of the great day." "At the day 
of judgment, the wicked shall be cast into hell, to be punished for- 
ever." — Westminster Catechisms and Confession. 

"We conclude, then, that the proclamation of grace in the gospel 
is final, and that the destiny of all who either receive or reject the 
message is fixed in this life. At death, the unbeliever passes hence to 
await, not his trial, but his sentence. Further, the judgment of the 
great day will be irreversible. The righteous Judge will impose 

76 



SIN S PENALTY PAID ONCE FOR ALL 77 

sentence on each, according to the degree and nature of his guilt." 
— Robert Anderson. 

Professor Shedd says, concerning original sin, regeneration and 
vicarious atonement, that the latter "is most incompatible of any with 
universal salvation; because universal salvation implies remedial 
suffering only, while vicarious atonement implies that it is retributive. 
Suffering that is merely educational does not require a vicarious 
atonement in order to release from it. But suffering that is judicial 
and punitive can be released from the transgressor only by being 
inflicted upon a substitute." 

If you have time just analyze this. It will be quite a mental 
stunt. ( i ) It assumes that "hell" is the penal verdict of the Judge. 
(2) Then vicarious atonement by a substitute releases from that 
penalty. (3) Why not begin with the cross as the end of all penalty 
for sin? (4) Why not recognize that "death" is the only Scripture 
penalty? (5) Why mix up legal penalty and educational discipline? 
(6) The answer must be that a theologian must be profound if he 
is nothing else. 

Professor Shedd says, "He who denies that he deserves eternal 
death cannot be saved from it so long as he persists in his denial. 
If his denial is the truth, he needs no salvation. If his denial is error, 
the error prevents penitence for sin, and this prevents pardon. No 
error consequently is more fatal than that of Universalism. (1) It 
blots out the attribute of retributive justice. (2) Transmutes sin into 
misfortune. (3) Turns all suffering into chastisement. (4) Converts 
the piacular work of Christ into moral influence. (5) And makes it 
a debt due to man instead of an unmerited boon from God." These 
five counts are just as false, or just as true, of both partial and uni- 
versal salvation. 

The Professor says "that as early as A. D. 250, the question was 
raised, whether the suffering to which Christ sentences the wicked 
is for the purpose of correcting and educating the transgressor, or 
of vindicating and satisfying the LAW he has broken, a question 
which is the key to the whole controversy." — No! The key does 
not fit. Is this not a more pertinent question, Did Christ put away sin 
once for all by the sacrifice of Himself? If He did, the penalty 
was paid. How, then, can suffering of any length or intensity be 
called upon to vindicate justice which Christ Himself fully vindicated? 
Is the grace of God to be made void? Not by me, says Paul. 



78 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Dean Gray says of the soul that sinneth it shall die, "this means 
that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6: 23). Death, however, is not 
annihilation, or non-existence, but existence in a state of conscious 
eternal punishment." "The wicked now charge God with unfairness 
very often, and they must have an opportunity to see beyond question 
this is not true. It is due to God that they should see this and con- 
fess it, and doubtless it will constitute part of their moral torment 
throughout eternity." (Must see it? But why is it not salvation 
to thus see God?) 

"Shallow views of the heinousness of sin," "Loose doctrine," and 
all kinds of slurring words are in print. There are shallow views of 
sin, and of very many other things ; are there not shallow views of the 
character of God, and of the efficiency of the work of Christ? 
Retribution for sin is demanded on all sides ; but again, — and again, — 
Where is justice fully established in the sight of God? At Calvary, 
once for all, or in an endless hell? Endless? How can justice be 
satisfied if the penalty is never fully paid? Did not the resurrection 
of Christ seal the fact that justification of the sinner and the ungodly 
was an accomplished fact? (Rom. 4:25.) 

Is Christ Jesus unable to cope with sin, so that it will never cease 
to be? Is the law and its death penalty to exist when "there shall be 
no more death"? (Gal. 1: 10, 13; Rev. 21:4.) Is God, with all 
Divine wisdom and power concentrated in the risen Son of God, 
unable to bring to bear motives that will change a limited creature's 
will without violating his freedom? In fact, has not this been done 
from Abel down to the last believer, let us say even in your own case ? 

It is amazing to see how these unscriptural ideas are intrenched 
in nominally Christian institutions, even after you recognize that all 
religious institutions have been enemies of spiritual Truth. Note the 
many contradictory teachings about the responsibility, the penalties, 
the course, the degrees, and end, of sin. Note the disagreement as 
to forgiveness, repentance, retribution; and as to purgation and holi- 
ness, how some see it as an instantaneous act of God; and others 
make it a gradual work, complete or incomplete in a man's lifetime; 
and then purgatory which may or may not fit a man for Heaven 
before their case is called for trial. It is also taught that purging is 
possible before death, and in the intermediate state, and even after the 
sentence of the great judgment day has been pronounced; and this 
purifying is through the agency of suffering, both disciplinary and 



sin's penalty paid once for all 79 

penal. It is taught that there is "eternal hope" for some, if not for all. 
Some would even teach annihilation. But pains and penalties can 
never take the place of that which is called the wisdom and power of 
God unto salvation. 

The wrath of God, of the Lamb, in the Day of Wrath, is very 
inappropriately ascribed to the Great Judge, at the Great Assize, when 
men are to be tried before the bar of God. We are taught that justice 
should be administered without bias, without passion, in strict accord 
with legal principles and procedure. But this misplacing of "wrath" 
gives us the idea that the case is prejudged, and that the formality of 
a trial is a farce. 

If Scripture gives us nothing definite we may drop all effort and 
cry "Kismet." Let us search and see if these things be so. 

i. I John 3 : 4, Sin is the transgression of the law. 
Rom. 3 : 20, By the law is the knowledge of sin. 
Rom. 7 : 8, Without the law sin was dead. 

2. This is clear. Now another point. 

Gal. 3:13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. 
John 1 : 29, Behold the Lamb of God that beareth away the 

sin of the world! (to fulfil the purpose of the eons). 
Heb. 9:26, Now, once for all, in the ends of the eons, hath 

He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of 

Himself. 
II Cor. 5 : 19, Not charging unto them (the world) their sins. 
I Peter 2 : 24, Who, Himself, bore our sins in His own body 

on the tree. (Peter's apostleship is to Israel. Here he is 

setting forth the reality of what the scapegoat of the law 

did ceremonially.) 

Why is not this the end of the sin question? How is it that so 
many believers hold that sins are to come up at some future day? 
Easy enough if they continue to shuffle up texts and read them thus 
misplaced. Parables? Yes, but all parables deal with the Kingdom 
and have little if any application beyond the Millennial eon. 

They speak of servants, and their rewards and punishment, but 
all these are temporary acts of discipline. Whatever they were, it 
does not make void the Gospel that "sin is not charged" and no future 
evil experience can be penalty for broken law. When the Lamb of 
God bore away the sin of the world, He bore it all away, — not your 
sins up to date, with a running account up to the hour and article 
of death. No act of sin will ever be the cause of condemnatory 
6 



80 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

sentence. Yes ? Yes ? We have heard the objection to the preaching of 
grace over and over again. Paul anticipated it and gave the answer in 
Romans 6. Yes, Mr. Caviler, Paul wrote to believers, and you object 
to the proclamation to sinners of the old creation! Well, Scripture 
says that the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit, and 
the natural man will not believe this Divine proclamation, that "sin 
is not charged to them;" their conscience is uneasy and they know 
that punishment awaits them for their sins. But suppose these sinners 
should believe that all sin was put away at the cross long before they 
were born, and that sins never have been and never will be charged 
to their account? Why! They would be saved! Do you not so 
preach the gospel ? believing it to be the wisdom of God and the power 
of God unto salvation; to be experienced upon belief, but to be true 
since Christ arose? Or do you preach the law and punishment to 
the ignorant and unbelieving? There may be texts you have in mind, 
but they do not contravene this. Just consider the whole, get the 
harmony, cease to distort individual passages. 

Take John 16: 8-1 1, for instance, "Of sin, because they believe not 
on me." Have you preached from this that unbelief is the unpardon- 
able sin, as the Dean of a Bible Institute does? Read it again. Who 
shall the Comforter convict of sin? — Answer: "The World." Why 
are they convicted of sin? Because! They do not believe the gospel; 
they do not believe on Me. If they did believe they would have no 
conscience of sin. "Of righteousness." What righteousness? And 
why? "Of Judgment." What is this? Do you pervert it to some 
judgment day to come? "Because the prince of this world has been 
judged!" Do not degrade the exalted Savior God to the limited 
sphere and action of the judge of a criminal court. See Chapter VII, 
on Divine judgment according to Scripture. 

The spiritual power of the so-called Protestant Reformation has 
fizzled out, with its one great doctrine of the righteousness of God 
still in the creed, but not in the obedience of faith, nor in public 
testimony. Christians profess their belief in the "gift" of life based 
on the righteousness of God, and then repeat ad libitum, "Forgive us 
our sins," which flatly contradicts their profession. This gift is not 
any man's experience. That is only the amount of his intelligent 
perception of spiritual things, which frequently is small. No. The 
Gospel proclamation of God is true; the resurrection of Christ con- 
firms its reality. It is a thing accomplished. WHEN a man believes 



sin's penalty paid once for all 8 1 

it he experiences it, but it was just as much accomplished before his 
experience as after it. "It is finished." "We thus judge that if 
Christ died for all, then all died." This is an accomplished fact 
before God. Your prompt or belated perception of it has spiritual 
results, but it does not fix the date of Christ's finished work. This 
is seen and accepted by faith alone. The epistle to the Galatians is 
the correction for legality today, as much as when Paul wrote it or 
Luther advocated it. It is astounding the almost universal use of the 
law to the detriment of the gospel, both for and against endless 
penalty for sin. There are no criminals before God today. The Head 
of the New Creation with His almighty spiritual power is dealing 
with ignorance and unbelief. These prevent fellowship with God, 
as really as sin does. Sin has been put away by the sacrificial work of 
Christ, but it will take the two future eons to deal with ignorance 
and unbelief. Not the sin of unbelief, for the law does not say, "Thou 
shalt believe." It says, "Thou shalt love." Belief comes on the basis 
of evidence, and love and life begin with it and continue on from it; 
for man cannot love what he knows nothing about, and a man cannot 
believe unless the object or the evidence is before him ; and we know 
that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." 
Faith is but an abstraction, dead until an object is presented, and 
obedience to the truth is exercised. Volumes are written on human 
character, which can all be boiled down to, "Be good and you will 
be happy;" which is the veil, thick or thin, that whenever and wherever 
used, shuts out the gospel of grace. In this life, exhortation follows 
a man from the cradle to the grave. "Sow a thought, reap an act; 
sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a char- 
acter, reap a destiny," — and you will have no particular use for the 
Savior God. 

Men are to purge themselves all they can in this life. They pray 
that they may "so live" that they may come to be fit for Heaven, 
and if they die with a half and half holiness, then, perhaps, they will 
pass through refining purgatorial fires in the intermediate state; and 
then, perhaps, they will be fit, — and perhaps not. If the court certifies 
to their good character, they enter into glory, but even there they 
will require some polishing lest the angels outshine them. If some 
are so bad that the general judgment finds that life and purgatory 
still leaves them publicans and sinners, unfit for high pharisaical 
society, they are sen* to various degrees of Gehenna, Tartarus, or 



82 



CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 



Lake of Fire, where penal pains and tortures will, some say, finally 
leave a purified soul; and some others say, No; the soul gets worse 
and worse and the torments increase in intensity and ingenuity 
(though the ingenuity is largely in the ghoulish literary glee of the 
Dantean describer). This is the impression given by many authors, 
some extracts from their writings being printed in Chapter X. We 
can, if we may, soften our words and say that they are led on imagina- 
tively or in partizanship to say more than they would stand to if 
challenged. 

It is the Scripture that is used by these legalists which should have 
our careful attention. Has the word of truth been rightly divided 
as to times, persons, character ? For where there is so much conflicting 
utterance it becomes us to use the proper tests to distinguish Scriptural 
differences; for the Book of Truth must somehow accord in Divine 
harmony. God has a place for everything, and everything must find 
and fit its place in due time. Eccl. 3 : 1, 11, 17, "For everything there 
is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. He hath 
made everything beautiful in its time. I said in my heart. God will 
judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every 
matter and for every work." One distinction to be recognized is that 
the "world (Greek, eon) to come" is not the intermediate state. It is 
the definite Millennial reign of Christ. 



DIA.11I 
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In this diagram an attempt is made to show the sequence of events 
referred to. The numbers are here explained : 

1, 2, 3. The theocratic throne in heaven is that indicated by the 
Tabernacle of the Testimony, the throne of Jehovah over Israel, 



sin's penalty paid once for all 83 

premier of the nations. The plan of this temporary structure was a 
pattern of the three heavens. The Court was the first heaven with 
the earth for an altar ; the Holy Place with light, table, incense-altar, 
was the second, where the priests were mediate between Jehovah and 
the nation; and the Most Holy Place contained the Throne, the 
mercy seat, the testimony, the two tables of the national constitution, 
Jehovah party of the first part Israel's God and King, and the whole 
people party of the second part. Eden, the garden, and the two trees 
in the midst, was also of this pattern. The Temple of Solomon also. 
The future temple as described by Ezekiel gives the plan only, no 
elevations. The plan was to be shown to the children of Israel to 
shame them. Thus the plan, if understood, was symbolic even if 
the design should not be carried out. The Holy City will have the 
Lamb Himself who is the fulfilment of all these building types. 

This throne is the rainbow throne described in Revelations 4, the 
symbol connecting it with the Rainbow Covenant of Gen. 9:8-17. Thus 
this present eon, though characterized as "evil" down here, is spanned 
by a governmental bow of promise. When the tribulation of the 
three and a half years of the day of wrath has passed, The Sun of 
Righteousness arises, and shines undimmed for a thousand years. 
The special "evil" of this eon is the perversion of the truth of God. 
It was initiated at Babel with a cunning so Satanic that Jehovah 
found it expedient to lay a restraining hand on it, lest it thwart His 
own purposes; but in its time restraint will be removed, and Babylon 
at the end will advertise its defiance of the true God world wide, 
only, after a few brief years, to go down with the antichristian hosts 
in one common catastrophe. 

One beauty and comfort of the coming eon will be that nothing 
but truth will be uttered, and it will be accompanied with the promised 
Pentecostal gifts, the powers of the eon to come. The resurrected 
Son of David will be the same Theocratic King that covenanted with 
Israel at Sinai, and "He shall reign not only for the next eon, but for 
the last eon also. In this second stage He will reign as David's Lord, 
in the full unveiled glory of his Godhood, finishing the work begun 
when as creative Word He was "sent forth" (Isa. 55: 11). At that 
"finishing" every knee shall bow in happy worship. They are not to 
be envied for their belief who would make the future worship of 
the Son of God compulsory on the part of ignorant and unbelieving 
rebels; and who take the name of eternity in vain, to aggravate it. 



84 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Messiah is said to be a priest for the eon, one only, the coming one ; 
but not for the eons as the term of kingship is said to be. 

4. The Grave (Qedem), "Thanatos" of the New Testament. It 
is the result of Death, and as personified in "The Unveiling" is the 
state of Death, not the act of dying. 

7 and 8. Death and Hades are cast into the Lake of the Fire. 
This is the end of them. 

5. Hades, the underworld. Here the souls of the righteous of 
the Old Testament went until the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when 
they were delivered. (Matt. 27 : 52, 53 ; Eph. 4:8.) These are the 
"saints" that are with Christ when He comes; they are with Christ 
during His reign. 

9. The second state of Thanatos (personified). Death (nekros) 
requires a grave of earth for the body. Hades (personified) follows 
Death. When the old earth flees away from the face of Jesus, Son 
of God enthroned (Rev. 20: 11), there remains nothing to hide body, 
soul, or spirit; they stand naked before the throne. The bodies are 
material, but as they have been redeemed, they do not pass away. 
These are the same dead that were in the first state of Thanatos. 
There are none of the righteous in this scene, as described. 

10. The Lake of the Divine Fire. This is the unveiled glory 
of God. 11. Adam. 

12. Enoch does not die, nor do those last living members of the 
body of Christ who are called up on high. (See Col. 3: 1,2, "Seek 
the things above [ano], where Christ is sitting at the right hand of 
God. Set your mind on the things that are above" [aao]. This is 
"far above [huperano] every principality and authority and power 
and Lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this eon, 
but also in that which is to come." On-high, above, to which place 
the heavenly body of Christ is called [Phil. 3: 14, tes ano kleseos], 
not "the air" of I Thess. 4: 17, to which saints whose hope is the 
earthly Millennial glory are caught up to escape the tribulation.) 
There was no heavenly hope known of or proclaimed when Paul 
wrote to the Thessalonians. Their Millennial hope was the "prior 
hope" of Eph. 1: 12 (pro-elpikotas, pre-hoped, not pre-trusted). 
Those who thus enter the kingdom alive see no death. Others also 
who pass through the tribulation and experience the eonian life of 
the Millennium see no death; for the first resurrection, that of the 



sin's penalty paid once for all 85 

just, is finished when Christ comes and His feet touch the Mount 
of Olives. After that no righteous one dies. 

13. The angels that sinned in the days of Noah were cast down 
to Tartarus and committed to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto 
judgment (II Peter 2: 4). Tartarus was not penal therefore, but 
only a place of confinement until the time came when pronouncement 
of judgment would set forth every issue involved, and this for the 
enlightenment of His creatures, not for any unworthy motive on the 
part of the One under whose authority the whole thing was to be 
made right. They are in eonian bonds; that is, from the beginning 
to the end of this present eon. Christ went and made a proclamation 
to these spirits (I Peter 3 : 19). The demons looked forward to tor- 
ment in their own proper time. It was not in the humiliation of His 
earthly years that He was to deal with this class, nor was it appar- 
ently the time for dealing with the angels in Tartarus. As far as 
prophecy had declared, the time might be at the end of that generation, 
coming next in order. But the program of the eons up to this time 
had not revealed that the centuries of this heavenly dispensation were 
to interrupt and put in abeyance certain questions that were to be 
settled in the eon of covenant fulfilment. Indeed the proclamation 
that their repentance would bring immediate realization of Messianic 
hopes held good for the 40 years of that wicked generation. The 
Kingdom of Heaven was at hand until the last political remnant of 
Israel had passed. There is no recognizing Israel now ; the Kingdom 
has not been at hand ; the sun and moon that mark the times of Israel 
have stood still more wonderfully than they did of old, over Beth- 
horon. Believers of this dispensation should know and take their 
assigned place and look- at all revelation from it. It is the only view- 
point from which they can see all these eonian things in their proper 
relation. 

14, 15. Covenants, Abrahamic and Sinaitic. 

16. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their company "went down 
alive into Sheol" (Hades). Here, at least, is a concrete fact con- 
cerning Hades. Bodies, souls, and spirits can go down there alive 
as surely as Elijah could be taken up into heaven alive. So shall 
many saints be taken up to reach the destined earthly glory without 
passing through the wrath that ends this eon. 

17. Four resurrections are recorded in the Old Testament. That 
of Jonah is of great importance, as our Lord twice declared His 



86 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

experience to be a great sign to the Jews. Jonah's body was in the 
fish, the seaweeds about his head. He began to pray as soon as he was 
swallowed. While praying, his soul left his body and went down 
into Sheol (Hades). This was death. His spirit was conscious in 
Sheol apart from his body. His death, and three days in Sheol, was 
not penal, but disciplinary; also typical. 

1 8. Jesus raised Jairus's daughter, and the young man at Nain. 

19. Moses was buried by Jehovah. The Archangel Michael con- 
tended about his body, possibly because his resurrection might have 
been considered premature. 

20. Lazarus's body came from the tomb, his soul and spirit from 
the place where Jehovah kept His Old Testament saints. "Thy 
brother shall rise again," said the Lord to Martha. "I know," said 
she, "that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 
Jesus said unto her (now Jesus was talking to Martha about Lazarus 
and calling her attention away from the last day to the then present, 
so that what He says applies to Lazarus) , "I am the resurrection and 
the life; he [Lazarus] that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall 
he live [Martha saw Lazarus come out of the grave alive], and 
whosoever liveth [as Lazarus did in resurrection] and believeth on 
Me shall not die for the eon." The covenant Jew looked forward 
to "the life" of the Messianic eon as the promised goal of the covenant. 
There are other things beyond, and this promise, though thus definite 
and limited to "the life" of that eon, in nowise denies that there is 
more to follow. 

21. Christ in Tartarus, in the lowest Sheol. 

22. Christ in Palestine 40 days. 

23. Christ "passed through the heavens." 

24. "Christ far above all heavens" exalted. 

25. The Old Testament saints raised with Christ; souls and 
spirits enter the bodies; they come out of their graves; they ascend 
to the second heaven, where are Enoch, Elijah, Jonah and others. 
These are covenant saints that come with the Son of Man when He 
comes in His Messianic glory. 

26. Dorcas, a woman raised by Peter; Eutychus, a man raised 
by Paul. 

27. The heavenly "body" of Christ, chosen in Him before the 
wreck of the cosmos of the first eon. No revelation is made in 
Scripture of this secret until Paul made it public in his Ephesian letter. 



sin's penalty paid once for all 87 

This work of Christ Jesus is "an exhibition" of His riches of grace 
"exceeding" any other made known to us. Paul's dispensation of 
this mystery did not begin at Pentecost. The landmark of its be- 
ginning, if so spiritual a thing could be said to have a landmark, is 
scripturally the twenty-eighth chapter of Acts, about 62 A. D. It is 
set forth by Paul only, and in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, 
only, though a knowledge of it is presupposed in the letters to Timothy 
and Titus, written some five years later. 

The more one adds to his perception of these differences in 
Scriptural eons and dispensations, the more clearly will be seen the 
truth of "the last things." For Law was A, B, C; the four gospels, 
F, G, H; the Acts, I, J; Paul's four groups of epistles, K, L, M; 
N, O, P; Q, R, S; T, U, V. Last things, X, Y, Z, are not for 
infants, but for those who by reason of use have their spiritual senses 
exercised, so that they can leave the first principles and go on to a 
mature, intelligent understanding of God's nature and God's purpose, 
and of Christ's accomplishment of that purpose. 

28. The "rapture" of First Thessalonians 4 is that of saints who 
are to return with Messiah for the earthly glory. They are not of 
"The Body," which is "called up on high." 

29. The two witnesses of Revelation 9 are killed. They lie in the 
street three and a half days and then are raised to join the Old Testa- 
ment company, and with them return. 

30. The tribulation martyrs live and reign with Christ 1,000 
years. 

31. Revelation 9. Here the fact is revealed that in the pit of the 
abyss there are 200,000,000 demons. In the coming tribulation they 
are provided with bodies as there described. They first torment men 
five months, under Abaddon, their king. Later, by fire and smoke 
and brimstone they kill one-third part of men then on earth. 

32. The antichristian hosts of combined Christendom under the 
political Beast and the false prophet, reinforced by Satan and his 
angels, and hosts of demons, arrayed against Messiah and His com- 
pany, are destroyed by the outshining glory of the Lord's presence 
(the epiphany of His parousia), when He comes to assume the throne 
of the Kingdom. Note that this destroying glory is called "the 
Lake of the Divine Fire" when this same event is described from 
another viewpoint (II Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19: 19). 

33. At the end of the Millennial reign Satan is loosed that he 



88 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

may gather to himself all the unregenerate then living to make one 
last demonstration of creature enmity. Fire comes down out of 
Heaven and devours them, and the last eon begins. It is characterized 
by the unveiled Son of God on the Great White Throne. The end 
sees the work that the creative word was sent forth to do, finished 
and delivered up. 

This review shows a progression from eon to eon, from dispensa- 
tion to dispensation. With man sin is introduced ; it runs its course ; 
it accomplishes its purpose; it is borne away by the Lamb of God. 
Christ in resurrection takes the place of all power to continue His 
work. Sin has left its mark, but it is not sin that separates creation 
from God now; it is ignorance and unbelief, the same elements that 
started the evil in the Anointed Cherub; who fell before Adam did. 
The exalted Jesus (Jehovah- Savior) is dealing with these evil ele- 
ments in His own way. The gospel is now declared to be the result 
of His combined wisdom and power. Endless penalty for sin relies 
wholly upon law and retributive justice to satisfy a moral sense of 
right. Whereas, righteousness is established, and the moral sense 
of God and all believers is satisfied by the work of Christ "that God 
might be just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." 

Whether all will see and believe thus becomes the present ques- 
tion. Search the Scriptures for a decision. We find this in Paul's 
first letter to Timothy (I Tim. i: 11-17), "The gospel of the glory 
of the blessed God, as I have been entrusted with it" (or "as I have 
myself believed it," Ferrar Fenton, who also has "the rectifying 
gospel," thus rendering doxes). Paul mentions his authoritative en- 
dowment as a minister and then goes on, "Although I was before an 
abuser, a persecutor and brutal; however I found pity, because I had 
done it in ignorance and unbelief. But the grace of our Lord with 
faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus, superabounded. This word 
is true and worthy of full reception, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners, of whom I am representative." Protos, first, 
implies more than comparison here, as the following words show; 
"But for the following reason I was granted pity; so that Christ 
Jesus might conspicuously display in me the universality of mercy 
(long-suffering) for a sample (hupotuposin) of those to believe on 
Him hereafter unto life eonian." There is no repetition of the Lord's 
method with Saul of Tarsus recorded or known as yet. When 
Messiah appears to Israel in their extremity, their national conversion 



sin's penalty paid once for all 89 

will be similar; but the making of ignorance and unbelief a chief 
characteristic of those to be converted hereafter, the descriptive titles 
in the ascription of Verse 17, and the fact that Paul is not writing to 
a novice, but to one who by years of association with him in his work 
is familiar with the previous progressive stages of his accredited 
teaching; — these point to the conditions of the last eon, when all the 
ignorant and unbelieving stand before the Great White Throne. 
They have no knowledge of gospel; they are there with their natural 
religious ideas only. Sin or sins are not under consideration by the 
One Enthroned. The books opened contain the record of God's 
acts, not man's. Read John 5: 37-47. These "Judeans" (Verse 18) 
will have Moses's writings, by which they will be judged. There they 
will see what they did not see before, — that Moses testified of Christ. 
Faith will come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, then 
as now; for it is their knowledge of God that Christ would insure. 
Others will be "judged by Paul's Gospel" or any other revelation of 
God's truth that any man has had the opportunity of hearing. They 
will all be "without excuse." The great mass will have no conception 
of God. The intelligent who have reasoned from nature that nature's 
God is He whom they should seek, have not sought Him except in 
the imaginings of their own heart or in the manufacture of their own 
hands. The few who have waited upon their Creator, according to 
their light, have all had more light; they are not in this company 
of the dead. These are like Job, or Aner, Eshcol, Mamre, Queen of 
Sheba, Naaman, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Cornelius of Cesarea. "The 
Lord knoweth them that are His." He now would deal with the 
dead, who are exposed to the Divine Glory about to be fully unveiled. 
Every last one of them has been redeemed from the penalty of sin 
by the blood of Christ, and now He will redeem by power, the 
spiritual power of the knowledge of God. All these are expecting 
penalty for sin; for that is the best human philosophical reasoning 
can do for them. It is significant that the face of the enthroned One 
is the only feature mentioned, for the face gives the first and strongest 
impression. This face will then be seen for the first time. Even 
Cain did not look Jehovah in the face, but his countenance was fallen, 
and he turned his back; but now Cain will see that face and see, not 
what his natural heart dreads, not what the preachers of wrath out 
of its place have told of and threatened. No! If He is the same 
they will see what the children saw when they came to His arms. 



90 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Here at last, spirit to spirit, they will heed the word of Isaiah 45. 
"Look! unto Me! and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am 
God and there is none else, a just God and a Savior." 

Sin and sinners and pardon have been commercialized, money 
has been paid, penances done. "With what," said Balak, King over 
Moloch-worshipping Moab. 

Micah:6:5-8: 

"My people remember the question 
Of Balak the Moabite King, 
And how Balaam-ben-Baor answered, 
At the wood of Acacias and Gilgal, — 
And thus learn how good the Lord is." 

Balak: "With what shall I come to the Lord? 

How bow before God, the Most High? 
Shall I approach Him with burnt-offerings? 
With calves, and the sons of a year? 
Please the Lord with a thousand of rams? 
With ten thousand of rivers of oil? 
Or give my first-born for my fault? 
The fruit of myself* for the sin of my soul ? 

Balaam: "He has shown you, frail man, what is right; — 
And what does the Lord seek from you? — 
4 To administer justice aright; 

Love mercy; walk humbly with God!" 

Jukes suggests, in speaking of the elect, the first-born, that these 
followers of Moloch burned the first-born as an offering in order that 
the other children might be saved ; but some modern predestinarians 
would have the elect first-born saved, and all the others burned 
sempiternally ; in which the followers of Moloch score above the 
modern Inquisitionists. 

Some who have been making personal capital out of their manipu- 
lations of the sinner's conscience, cry out about making light of sin. 
If sin is made light of because Christ is victorious over all its evil, 
past, present, and future ; if sin is made light of because where it most 
abounds grace superabounds, then sin will have to submit. Sin has 
"reigned," but it "reigned unto death" only, and he that is dead is 
freed from sin. Sin has no resurrection. In the death of Christ, 
the reign of sin came to an end, and in the resurrection power of 
Christ "grace reigns through righteousness to life eonian; righteous- 

*My body. 



sin's penalty paid once for all 91 

ness established, not by endless future retribution, but by the terms 
of the Gospel of God, for "therein is revealed a righteousness of God." 
With the eonian work of Jesus (Savior) finished and delivered up 
to the Father, there is said to be no more death; it is like darkness, 
a negative, and passes away when love is all in all, when life and 
light are unclouded; — no more penalty, no more law, no more sin, 
no more judicial machinery, no more priesthood; — it is God, as 
Father, who is then said to be all in all. 

"The wages of sin is death." "In the day thou eatest thereof 
thou shalt surely die." This is the penalty according to the Bible. 
It requires the faith of the spiritual man to see it alike in its simplicity 
and in its magnitude. Its simplicity is in the word "death ;" its magni- 
tude takes in the unity of the old creation in the headship of the Son, 
who in that representative position pays the whole penalty for sin. 
"We thus judge that Christ died for all, therefore all died !" Faith 
alone can accept this, and the natural man walks by sight. (Col. 
1 : 18-23.) All penalty is thus specifically paid by Christ in His one 
act of humiliation, His submission unto death. To exact additional 
penalty in the life or death of any of Adam's race goes beyond 
retributive justice. The natural man complains, "I surfer in this 
life; I must die; I look forward fearfully to judgment," etc., but 
all this is in ignorance of "the gospel of God concerning His Son," 
and in blind confidence in his blind religious leaders. On the con- 
trary, the spiritual man says, "I believe that our Savior, Jesus Christ, 
who annulled the Death (katargesantos men ton thanaton, abolished, 
brought to naught, the Thanatos) , and brought Life and Incorrupti- 
bility to Light through the gospel." You do not get this through Law. 

Sin and sinners take up too much of the stage. Give God his due ; 
let Christ have the pre-eminence in all things. Man is told by his 
fellow-man, who seats himself in Moses's seat, that if he repents, 
pleads for pardon, and then is forgiven, he has a title to heavenly 
bliss when he dies. This has no Divine authority; it is false. 
(1) Sin is not charged to the account of any man today. (II Cor. 
5:19.) (2) Forgiveness does not change a man's character. 
Pharaoh was forgiven, but was unchanged. (Ex. 10: 16-20.) 
(3) A heavenly destiny is revealed to believers of this dispensation 
only; "the earth hath He given to the children of men" (Eph. 
1:3,20-23; Ps. 115: 15). It will take a majority of Bible readers 



92 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

a long time to find two passages on which to base a hope of a 
heavenly destiny. 

Dr. Emmons says, "The extinction of the sinner would not be 
the extinction of his sin; that would go on forever, an inextinguish- 
able protest against the perfection of the Divine Government." 
These guardians of the honor of government should recall the fact 
that Uzzah was too zealous for the safety of the Ark of God 
(II Sam. 6:6). But "Grace reigns," superabundant above sin and 
its consequences by virtue of the Headship of Christ (Rom. 5 : 15-20). 
Shall we gather up the fragments, "that nothing be lost," or throw 
them into the sempiternal swill-box? The veil of the law must hide 
the gospel to some extent before one can really believe in endless 
or even temporary punishment for sin. 

How about Israel's penalties? Israel, foolishly on their part, 
wisely on God's part, entered into a covenant of law which was in 
force from Moses to the Baptist, and there were penalties, but as the 
first party to that covenant was "Jehovah their God," their very 
punishment took on the aspect of discipline, to drive them or lead 
them to Christ. This legal experience was temporary and incidental. 
The essence of the Law, "Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God," was 
legal, and it is suggestive that in this connection there is so little 
reference to Deut. 30: 6. "Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart 
and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy 
hearty and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." This is predicted 
of the wilderness unbelievers who died in their sin. 

But what does the Dean, D. D., teach? "Man has a capacity for 
self-determination, — can choose to reject the One who was wounded 
for their trangressions and bruised for their iniquities, and upon 
whom the chatisement of their peace was laid, and some will so 
choose." True, and men have changed, and can and will change 
their choices. Men, old and new, are the workmanship of God in 
this change, and if one can be changed, it is presumption to say 
where He will stop until all are changed (Eph. 2:10). Saul of 
Tarsus was the representative chief of these Christ-rejectors, and 
the means taken to influence his choice is said to be a sample of 
some future dealing; not with Israel only, but with the dead before 
the Great White Throne. (Acts 9 15; 1 Tim. 1:16.) 

Who art Thou, Lord? The Great Moral Governor of the 
Universe? No! "I am Jehovah-Savior." (Joshua, Jesus.) Where 



sin's penalty paid once for all 93 

is the repentance, the forgiveness, the purifying? They are in the 
background. Sin was not the first point; knowledge which was 
salvation came first. Sin had been put away as a fact, it had to be 
dealt with in the education of Saul ; he was even to follow the ritual 
for ceremonial cleansing. But he soon outgrew the law. Paul testi- 
fies in I Tim. 1 : 13, "I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, 
and injurious; howbeit, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly 
and in unbelief." Exalted at the right hand of all power, Christ 
Jesus is not dealing with sin now; He finished that business once 
for all; He is meeting ignorance and unbelief by the power and 
wisdom of God as it is manifested in the gospel of His grace. When 
debits and credits are all down on the balance-sheet, it will not be 
found that the law claims an unpaid remainder, an amount that can 
never be made up while the rolling ages of Eternity roll. No, the 
balance will be found to the credit of grace that super abounded, above 
all the sin of the seven millenniums, no matter how much it abounded 
(Rom. 5: 20, 21). In fact, the law was so fully satisfied at the cross 
that there has not been an entry on the debit side since. The 
Recording Angel has been on a vacation. 

There is no place for sin on resurrection ground. The resurrec- 
tion of Christ was a receipt in full for all demands of retributive 
justice. 

The "righteousness of God" has been established, and now it is 
ungodliness that is to be overcome. "For there is no difference, for 
all sinned" — this is settled — "and come short of the glory of God" — 
this remains, and preparation must be made to meet the unveiling of 
that glory. The coming thousand years will find all the living ready. 

Keep in mind Anderson's words, "The day is past when God 
could plead with men about their sins. The controversy is not about 
a broken law, but a rejected Christ." "This direst sin" (?) he 
calls it, notwithstanding. He further says (somewhat inconsistently), 
"The final punishment of the lost will be the consequence of a 
judicial sentence. This penalty will be that due their sins, else it 
were unrighteous to impose it. If the lost are saved ultimately, it 
must be because the penalty is paid." Must gospel cease while law 
continues, or is the reverse true? Anderson further says, "It is not, 
I repeat, the providential or disciplinary, but the penal consequences 
of sin that follow the judgment." "Punishments are not purgatorial." 

Now first, — Has Christ paid the debt ? Second, — Does the sinner 



94 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

pay the penalty to the uttermost farthing? Third, — Does Purgatory 
pay part, after Christ has paid the whole? Sin seems to be a great 
commercial commodity. We need a blue sky law to restrain the fake 
speculator who exploits other men's consciences even after Christ has 
settled the account. Your knowledge of God, plus your false ideas 
of God, make up the character of God as you apprehend Him. Who 
is your God? What is his name? 

Paul taught "the whole counsel of God." What does he say of 
endless punishment for sin? — Nothing! And if essential, why absent 
from passages like the following: Rom. 2:8, 9; 5:21; Gal. 5:21; 
6:8; Phil. 3: 18, 19; II Thess. 1:9? 

Samuel Cox says, "Endless punishment for sin is at variance with 
the Scripture law of retribution, with election, with the declared end 
and function of punishment, and with the changeless love and passion 
of God as declared in the Atonement" (reconciliation through the 
blood of His Cross, rather) (Gen. 12:3, 22:18; Acts 3: 25, 26.) 
"Unto you first," says Peter. "Every one of you," the crowd among 
whom were some scoffers. "All kindreds of the earth." Gal. 3 : 8, 
"foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith." "All 
nations blessed." Ps. 72: 14, "All nations shall call Him blessed." 
Ps. 102: 15-22, Rom. 15: 11, with Ps. 117: 1, Ps. 150: 6, Isa. 45: 22, 
23, "this . . . cannot return void." (Isaiah 55.) This vision of re- 
demption is invariably companioned by a vision of temporary judgment, 
the redemption being final. Joel 2: 28-31 with 3: 12-21, "All flesh." 
Hab. 2: 13, 14, judgment, then glory; Zeph. 2:11, "terrible;" 3 : 8, 9, 
"that all the isles of the heathen;" Mai. 1: 11, 3: 1-3, 4: 1-3, judg- 
ments, then "His name great among the Gentiles." "In every place 
incense offered unto My Name." 

EVIL {Ra, Hebrew, and kakos, Greek) is an all-inclusive term. 
It meets us on the threshold of revelation as the opposite or negative 
of "good." 

Isa. 45: 5-8: 

"I am the LIFE 1 and none beside, 
Except Myself, there is no God; 
Though you knew not, I fixed your belt ! 
To teach them from the rising-sun, 
And from where evening fades away, 
That I am LIFE 1 and none beside! — 
Who formed 2 the light? Created? Gloom? 
Who Good 4 has made? Created* bad? 5 



sin's penalty paid once for all 95 

"Myself, the LORD made all! 
Skies! 8 from above drop dew! 
You clouds rain Goodness 6 down, 
Earth open and yield Justice, 7 
And Right 6 grow up at once. 
As I the LORD 1 create!"* 

1. Jehovah. 2. Yah-tzar. 3. Bah-rah. 4. Shalohm, peace, welfare. 5. Ra', evil, 
calamity. 6. Tsedeq, righteousness. 7. Yeh-sha', justice, salvation. 8. Heavens. 

Gen. 2: 17, Ye may not eat; I Tim. 2: 15, The woman was de- 
ceived, she was wronged, as truly as she was wrong. Adam sinned 
wilfully. They were expelled ; death came and all our woe. This 
incident was brief. It was on the progressive program. Man is 
responsible on his part as a man, and God is responsible on His part 
as God. Man has shirked responsibility, but God never: He had no 
occasion to. A certain Dean pounces upon this idea, and labels it 
"Horrid Blasphemy." So the "Reconciliation of the Universe" is 
called "Damnable doctrine, from the pit of Hell," etc. Unless God 
is responsible for the presence of all evil, and unless all evil is 
temporary and justifiable as a cause, we have the so-called "Problem 
of evil," and we have no solution, and we may as well resign ourselves 
to Kismet, or to the doctrine of election, reprobation and decrees, 
which, in the utterance of Augustinian, Calvinistic theologians, is 
the same thing. There is, however, a better way, and Berean 
searchers can easily find it. 

Rom. 11:32, "God hath shut up all together in unbelief," and 
the Chicago Dean calls unbelief the unpardonable sin ! 

Rom. 1 1 : 36, All things are out of God. (I Cor. 8:6; 11:12; 
II Cor. 5: 18; Col. 1 : 16; Heb. 2: 10.) Omar Khayyam and theo- 
logians say, "Out of nothing." 

I Sam. 16: 14, 15, 16, 23, An evil spirit from God. (I Sam. 18: 10, 
19:9; Ps. 78:49.) 

Lam. 3 : 37, 38, Who speaks and it comes, when the LORD has 
not ordered ? Both bad and good came from the mouth of the Highest. 

If, however, evil is to be permanent, then the problem of its 
existence is insoluble. Jehovah kills. That is an evil, but not a sin. 
Man kills. That is not only an evil, but a sin ; for man cannot make 
alive, as God can and will. Let us search and see. 

I John 3 : 4, Sin is the transgression of the law. 

Rom. 3 : 20, By the law is the knowledge of sin. 

Rom. 7 : 8, Without the law sin was dead. 
7 



96 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

This one point certainly is definite. Now, let us keep this dis- 
tinction clear: to sin against the law is one thing; to refuse, or, as 
some say, reject, the gospel is quite another. 

Rom. 5 : 20, The law entered, thus law began. Second Corinth- 
ians, Chapter 3, The law was "done away," thus law ends. Law is 
evidently a temporary expedient. There is something other than law 
and sin that is the matter with this world of men. 

They may answer "that man's intuitive sense of justice may be 
satisfied." They cannot say, "In order that God's demand for right- 
eousness be fully met; for it is declared that "God set forth Christ 
Jesus, a propitiation [or propitiatory] , through faith in His blood . . . 
that He might Himself be just and the justifier of him that is of 
faith of Jesus." Meet one issue at a time; the question of faith is 
considered elsewhere. First decide whether the penalty of sin, as^, 
stated in Scripture, is put away or not. If Christ ransomed all, then 
no penalty is to be exacted beyond His finished work at any future 
time. The question of unbelief is to be met, but for all sin the law 
has been satisfied by the penalty paid once for all. Test very critically 
all attempts to weaken or limit this fundamental gospel fact, and settle 
it between your own self and your own Lord before you go on to 
other doctrines that are affected by your perception of this. In another 
place the Scripture is appealed to to settle the relation of one who is 
ignorant and unbelieving and rejecting the light, but sin is not now, 
nor ever will be brought up against any, if once for all Christ put it 
away. (II Cor. 5 : 19.) There are many who see this and preach it, 
adding that the one great sin which will result in sempiternal punish- 
ment is unbelief. Thus Robert Anderson ("Human Destiny," p. 165) 
affirms, "The day is past when God could plead with men about their 
sins. The controversy now is not about a broken law, but a rejected 
Christ" and (p. 154) "Sin's penalty has indeed been borne by Christ. 
His resurrection was the public proof that every claim of righteousness 
was satisfied. But the sufferings of the sin-bearer did not include the 
consequences of rejecting the atonement. (He who knew no sin was 
made sin for us.) Faith grasps the fact that the death of the sin- 
bearer, in all which it implies, is an equivalent to the sinner's doom." 
After this we have this inconsistent remark: "Scripture leaves no 
doubt that in the world to come, sin's punishment shall be real and 
searching," but it is for the "rejection of Christ," the "final (?) im- 
penitence," the "confirmed habit" of "self-determination," the "con- 



sin's penalty paid once for all 97 

firmed hardness," the "fixed character" of the natural man who has 
even lost the free exercise of his will. And the longer this goes on, the 
more hopeless the case, because beyond God's power, — though it was 
perfectly hopeless when the sinner died in his sins, — as Dr. Shedd 
says; even almightiness itself cannot forgive impenitence any more 
than it can make a square circle. (How about the four corners of 
the earth?) "The endlessness of sin results, first, from the nature 
and energy of sinful self-determination. Sin is the creature's act 
solely. There is no will so wilful as a wicked will. Sin is stubborn 
and obstinate in its nature, because it is enmity and rebellion. Hence 
a wicked will intensifies itself perpetually. Enmity becomes more 
and more Satanic. It becomes unable to reverse itself and overcome 
its own inclination and self-determination. Sin ultimately assumes 
a fiendish form and degree. It is pure wickedness without regret or 
sorrow, and with a delight in evil for evil's sake." (And this is 
another way to be happy in hell.) He adds, "The only necessitating 
reason, therefore, for endless retribution that now exists, is the sinner's 
impenitence. A penitent sinner can be forgiven, but an impenitent 
sinner cannot be. The former God pities and extends the offer of 
mercy to him. To the latter God holds out no hope because He 
cannot." (So the question narrows down to penitence.) 



CHAPTER VII 

PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE? 

John 7 ; 24., Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous 

judgment. 

And Jesus said, "For judgment came I into this world, that they 
that see not may see, and that they that see may become blind" 
(John 9 : 39) . The first occurrence of the word (Gen. 18 : 19) shows 
that God intended the children of the Abrahamic Covenant to "keep 
the way of Jehovah and do righteousness and judgment" for a cer- 
tain end. The Am. R. V. renders it "righteousness and justice," very 
properly recognizing the general as well as special character of the 
word. One of the many Scripture words perverted to serve the false 
conclusions of Natural Religion is "judgment" (Mishpat, Hebrew, 
and Krisis, Greek). The judgment of God, which is over all his 
works, and which is linked with mercy, faith, and the love of God, 
in Matt. 23 : 23 and Luke 1 1 : 42, is degraded to the level of a human 
police court, where the criminal is sentenced to the penalty of the law. 
God is "the Judge of the whole earth," and all judgment is com- 
mitted unto the Son, who says, "I came not to judge the world, but 
to save the world . . . the word that I spake that shall judge him." 
John 12: 47, 48, Christ does not judge as if He were limited to the 
bench of a law court. He is enthroned, and for 1,000 years of 
judgment He is a priest, as well. It is another idea of man's Natural 
Religion, that there is to be one last general judgment, where, before 
the bar of Jove, or whatever name they give him, each man will have 
a trial, — the good to be acquitted and transported to elysian fields of 
bliss, and the bad condemned to endless suffering in plutonian regions. 
This idea is taken up by the magnates of Christendom as a profitable 
cash asset. But doctrines range from the transcendental to the 
ridiculous. Where in this muddle do you find a way to the Truth? 
— Yes! the Bible. 

Scripture has the term Eonian Judgment. The coming eon, the 
day of the Lord, is one continued Divine and Kingly and Priestly 
judgment for one thousand years. Hark back to the Psalms: "Jehovah 
reigneth! let the earth rejoice!" "Give the king thy judgments, O 
God, and thy righteousness unto the King's Son; He will judge thy 
people with righteousness and thy poor with equity." "He is Jehovah 

98 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 99 

our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered 
His covenant for the eon." "For there are set thrones for judgment, 
the thrones of the house of David." "Behold, My Servant, whom I 
uphold; My Chosen, in Whom My soul delighteth; I have put My 
Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth judgment [justice] to the 
Gentiles." "He will bring forth judgment [justice] unto truth." 
"He will bring forth judgment unto victory." (Read Psalms 96; 
97: 1,2; 98:8,9; 99: 1-4; 72; 122:5; Isa. 42: 1-4.) 

It is true that God "hath appointed a day in which He will judge 
the world in righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained ; 
whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised 
Him from the dead." That "day" of the Lord is one thousand years, 
the eon to come. Judgment will be in the earth the whole period, and 
the inhabitants of the world will learn knowledge (Isa. 26: 7-9). 
The Kingdom Commission (Matt. 28: 18) will then be carried out 
by the kingdom of priests, and they will "make disciples" of all nations 
— "TEACHING them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded 
you." The Twelve knew this was a National Commission, and so 
they confined themselves to calling the nation to repentance first; 
they did not go to the Gentiles ; they did not baptize according to that 
commission. The modern Gentile Church thinks it knows better 
than the Twelve who received instruction as to these Kingdom matters 
direct from their Lord for 40 days after He rose. They did not go 
and teach the nations, they did not baptize as ecclesiastics now do in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; this 
was for the kingdom of priests, when at last they repent and receive 
their Messiah, who will be with them in that Millennial eon. Then 
this commission will be in order. 

After an eon of teaching without error, and with miraculous 
helpful spiritual gifts, the earth will be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord as the waters cover the sea. This describes the condition of the 
living upon earth. There remains, however, evil and ignorance and 
unbelief on the part of Angels, Demons and the human dead. As the 
world has been made righteous by that Man whom God ordained, 
it then enters the last eon in which the Universe is to be made meet 
for the approval of God, and this is to be done by the Supreme Power 
of the Son of God, working through the elect of the first resurrec- 
tion, the Body of Christ, the promoted Israel, or at least an elect 
company gathered out of Israel as the "perfect woman," on the prin- 



100 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

cipks indicated in Corinthians, to complement "the perfect man" of 
Ephesians, and elect angels who have been taught of God, giving 
earnest attention for 2,000 years to the principles revealed in this pres^ 
ent heavenly dispensation. The humiliation of the Son, whose Godhood 
has been veiled for the eons, reaches its last stage in the last eon. 
He reigns in Majesty for 1,000 years in the glory of the Son of 
Man, the Messiah, on the Rainbow throne described in Revelations 4. 
He then reigns unveiled in the glory of the Son of God, exercising 
the power, wisdom, and love necessary to the full accomplishment of 
His commission. The Rainbow throne gives place to the Great White 
Throne. ( Rev. 20 : 11.) We creatures who can apprehend things 
in terms of time and space only, have little detailed description here, 
and we must build upon what is given, calling for reinforcement upon 
all previous revelation. We may perhaps be allowed to imagine this 
8th day to be 1,000 years, but at any rate the One enthroned will 
not hurry matters, but will still condescend to deal with us in our 
limitations. 

We note the throne, "Great! — White!" that is all, but as the 
earth and heaven are fled away, it is the one only article of furniture 
visible to the congregation of the dead. We note "the Enthroned 
One." No Name! No description! but attention is concentrated 
on the one feature mentioned, His Face! It is from this face that 
all the old things flee. Note, the Dead remain: Why do they not 
shrivel in the fierceness of that glory and flee away also? Because 
they are redeemed; because The Enthroned One created them, and 
loved them when He created them. "He giveth to all life and breath 
and all things," and gives because He loves. He has "a desire unto 
His Handiwork." Shall we say that He ceases to love them in 
death? "Is it the great crime of dying, which will end the love 
that sin and enmity could not quench?" No! Love never faileth. 
But death is to be "done away." It is negative, the absence of life. 
It is a penalty, and penalties disappear when law goes, and law is gone. 
Yes, Mr. Lawyer, the law was temporary. It is "done away" 
(II Cor. 3: 7, 11, 13, 14). "I saw the dead, the great and the small, 
stationed before the throne" — upheld by spiritual power, — there is 
no gravitation. If we ask in what form, we can gather some idea 
by analogy from the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. But there 
is a body, there is a soul, there is a spirit. "Books were opened," — 
not a record of man's deeds, but of God's. The side of God is pre- 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE IOI 

sented to the assembly. The book of the law is opened to them that 
were under law (John 5 : 45-47) ; the word of Jesus to them that 
heard that Word (John 12: 47, 48) ; Paul's gospel to others; the 
eonian Gospel of Revelation 14; and the Book of Nature that has 
been accessible to all (Rom. 1 : 19, 20 and on to Rom. 2: 16; Acts 
10: 34, 35; Eccl. 12: 13, 14). Jehovah preached it to Job (Job 38: 1 
to 41 : 26). This for intelligent ones, but what for babes? for idiots? 
Shall not the spirit of the idiot, released from that physical compres- 
sion, be free to discern ? Why did the children go to the arms of Jesus 
on earth? Did they not read His face? And will there be seen 
another Jesus in this face? "And the book of life!" This is the 
record of the covenant nation, Israel. Some are there whose names 
have been "blotted out" of that book, but none of the children of 
Adam are there because of sin; they are there because of ignorance 
and unbelief (I Tim. 1 : 13-16). Not for sins, but for their "works," 
the work of natural religion gone astray, when the work of God was, 
"that they should believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6: 29). 
"It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God" 
(John 6: 45) ; here is His class of the spiritually deficient. 

All the intelligent spirits before the throne of that last eon have 
had more or less of natural religion; every conscience condemns, 
every sense of justice makes them believe the hour of their sentence 
is come. They believe, and their preachers have confirmed that belief, 
that the Great Moral Governor of the Universe is about to send them 
to hell fire, and they feel the preliminary flames. They know not 
that it is the glory of God that shines out upon them; they have no 
covering; the grave is gone; the glory is being gradually unveiled. 
But quickly, one and another, the feeble first, look up into that face ! 
They do not see what they expect to see, and what they have been 
told they must expect to see, an implacable legal judge. No! "Sirs," 
said the Greeks, "we would see Jesus." Reader, have you had a 
glimpse of that "faceV Jesus, name above every name! Savior. 
The same Jesus, yesterday, to-day and for the eons! This last eon 
confirms the statement, "I am God! I change not!" The scene on 
the road to Damascus is repeated on a large scale. Saul saw, and 
believed. Men are not saved in unbelief, nor are they brought into 
the new creation with the old Creation character, but this truth will 
not be denied by those who are likely to read this book. 

He whom God calls "The Son of His Love" (Col. 1 : 13) is the 



102 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Head (arche) , the first-born out of the dead; Who said to Martha, 
"I am the resurrection and the life," was also declared to be the Son 
of God by His resurrection (Rom. 1 : 4). He also said, "They that 
are accounted worthy to attain that eon, and the resurrection from the 
dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for neither can they 
die any more! for they are equal unto the angels; and are Sons of 
God, being Sons of the Resurrection! (Luke 20: 35, 36.) Recall 
I Cor. 15:22, "So in Christ shall all be made alive," and you have 
Scripture for the reconciliation of all the sons of humanity. 

Rev. 20: 13, an additional fact! "And the sea gave up the dead 
that were in it," the demons, who apparently have been sent back to 
their pre-Adamic place. "And Death and Hades gave up the dead 
that were in them;" the fallen angels and spirits in prison; and they 
were judged each (ekastos) according to their works, each creature 
is seen for just exactly what he is. The Anointed Cherub, the highest 
of God's creatures, "full of wisdom and perfect in beauty," is before 
this glorious eonian throne in creature ignorance and unbelief, and 
because of ignorance and unbelief ; for though full of wisdom, he had 
not the omniscience of his Creator. He acted in his inferior wisdom, 
he came short of the perfection which omniscience would have assured ; 
he felt self-sufficient, he saw no danger. But God only is self- 
sufficient; the Creature must learn the necessity of loving dependence 
on his Creator, and in a teachable spirit that will lead on to fellowship 
with God. "The fellowship of the Divine Spirit be with you all." 

God's discerning Spirit is in the Earth at all times. There was 
a special judgment at the cross; the old creation was condemned to 
pass away, but the part taken by its Divine Head was acceptable. 
So in Resurrection He becomes Head of a new Creation, where all the 
"former things" are "passed away," and in which HE maketh all 
things NEW. There is continuity of Creation in the Living Head, 
and in Him alone. This might be illustrated by the old caterpillar 
Adam life, and the new heavenly butterfly last Adam life. The cater- 
pillar soul is not to be found in the butterfly; their desires differ. 

The Head of all creation became identified with it, even physically. 
His material body, animated by Adamic blood, was the sheath of the 
Divine principle of life. The blood was given up and, as an animating 
agent, it passed away, for it belongs to the old creation (John 12: 24). 
But the body of Christ, unlike all others, was in charge of the Supreme 
Spirit, and was not amenable to the prevailing law of corruption. 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 103 

Life is the condition of a unified organism, matter dominated by 
spirit, spirit dominated by The Supreme Spirit ; that is, The Supreme 
Intelligence. "God is Spirit." Death is the absence of that co- 
ordination, that unity of life, body — soul — spirit. The Word made 
flesh was body — soul — spirit. His body alone of all bodies had "incor- 
ruptibility" (I Tim. 6: 16). Not a bone of Him was broken, but 
the blood passed away. Jehovah Messiah, Christ Jesus, who had 
judged the earth for the Millennial eon, now judges the Universe as 
the Son of God until it is perfected in every part, animate and inani- 
mate, spirit and matter, ready to be delivered up to The Father. 
Here is the consummation of the eons! The Universe one family, 
with God all in all! Immortal? — Yes, in Christ. Looking for- 
ward ? — Yes, but how feeble and futile all speculations about that 
future until the eonian work is accomplished. 

It is necessary to meditate on that Great White Throne and the 
progressive teachings of the eons that lead up to it, to determine the 
character of its judgments. In God's judgments, where is the line 
between retribution for sin and discipline for the scholar? Evil as 
a problem is insoluble if it has no finality. Temporary evil, under 
God as He has made Himself known, is easily recognized as a means 
to an end. 

"See now that I, even I, am He [your protection], 

And there is no God with Me. 

I kill, and I make alive; 

I wound, and I heal." [Deut. 32: 39.] 
"Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive: 

He bringeth down to Sheol and bringeth up, 

Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich. 

He bringeth low, He also lifteth up." [I Sam. 2: 6, 7.] 

The doctrine of endless punishment for sin involves endless evil. 
It must also deny that this evil has the element of discipline or 
chastisement in it. Thus one false position develops another. 

See how the thing works. The Bible has one penalty only for 
sin, and this is death. This penalty has been paid and the account 
balanced. Therefore, all other evil is disciplinary in the school of 
the Divine Teacher. (They shall all be taught of God.) This 
clears God's character to us, exalting it, not lowering it. But if 
natural religion with its limitations and errors has the supreme say so, 
then Law must usurp the throne of Grace ; the sin question is opened 



104 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

up again. That the Lamb of God bore away the sin must be denied ; 
every sin must meet with retribution; every man who by his self- 
determination has willed to be holy must be rewarded. Then the 
putting away of sin was not accomplished at the cross, but only when 
man wills to seek God, becomes penitent, and asks for pardon. Then, 
if elect, — and if he does this, he is elect, — he will be fit for heaven 
and will go there. 

Any other destiny than Elysium (the Greek Paradise, or abode 
of the blessed dead, in mid-air, or the Sun, or in the center of the 
earth next to Tartarus, or in the Islands of the Blest) for the good, 
and the Plutonic depths for the bad, is not within the logic of the 
unaided human mind. Systematic Theology takes up this teaching 
of natural religion and affirms it to be true. Here is the language of 
a systematic professor, admitting the establishment of the doctrine of 
endless punishment for sin, with no reference to the character of God 
apart from his justness, and no relation to the Gospel work of Christ 
in putting away sin by the sacrifice of Himself: "The doctrine is 
defensible on the basis of sound ethics and from pure reason. Nothing 
is requisite for its maintenance but the admission of three cardinal 
truths of theism, namely, — that there is a just God; that man has 
a free will; and that sin is voluntary action." (W. G. T. Shedd.) 
Thus it is the natural man, ignorant of Gospel, but having a sense of 
justice, a conscience under law, who demands an endless existence 
for retributive purposes. He admits the principle, but even he is 
shocked at the ghoulish exaggerations of learned theologians at one 
end and ignorant exhorters at the other. Objections come from those 
who believe in Christ and the Bible, and who consider the relation of 
the Lord Jesus to the subject. And yet Professor Shedd states the 
opposite to be the fact. He says, "The chief objections to the doctrine 
of endless punishment are not Biblical, but speculative." True, the 
advocates of universal reconciliation do not make the most of their 
subject; they also make unnecessary concessions, possibly because of 
the lingering force of tradition, training, and church affiliation. But 
that Scripture has been appealed to, is much in evidence. Why deny 
what is printed in many books? 

Here's another theological nut. "The only way in which justice 
can approximately obtain its dues is by a never-ceasing infliction. 
We say approximately, because, tested strictly, the endless suffering 
of a finite being is not strictly infinite suffering; while the guilt of sin 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 105 

against God is strictly infinite. It is the degree, together with the 
endlessness of the suffering, that constitutes the justice of it. The 
infinite incarnate God suffered more agony in Gethsemane than the 
whole finite human race could suffer in endless duration." — Apropos 
of what? Augustine started this "deplorable sophism" that "a sin 
against an infinite being must deserve an infinite punishment." 
Thomas Aquinas and many theologians have repeated it. Suppose 
you reverse this argument. Herod the Great's sin against little help- 
less babes must have been so small as hardly to deserve punishment. 
But the Teacher says, "It would be better for him that a great 
millstone should be hung around his neck, and he be sunk into the 
depths of the sea." (Matt. 18:6.) Is it true that the greater the 
being, the greater should be his vengeance? 

F. W. Farrar advocates "Eternal Hope," but repeatedly says that 
he cannot see and preach universal restoration. He also repeatedly 
and emphatically records his belief in retribution for sins, both in 
this life and that which is to come. He says, "The pain, even the 
eternal pain of loss, — that we shall receive 'according to our works,' 
— Christ's revelation that there will, in the life to come, be degrees 
of punishment, light or heavy, in proportion to the degrees of guilt, — 
that these punishments will come by the working of natural laws ; 
— that the penalty is not the arbitrary infliction of external agony; — 
that a soul may possibly, even forever, by its own act and its own 
will, shut itself out from the presence of God, and be unreclaimed 
even by the bitter taste of the fruit of its own doings; — these are 
doctrines neither unjust nor unmerciful, nor is there anything in 
them which revolts and maddens the conscience and the instincts 
of mankind." 

As you read this, recall what is said of Farrar under the "Per- 
sonal Equation." This emphasizes it. He continues with the false 
assertion that "these alone are the doctrines of Scripture" and de- 
nouncing "torments and excruciating physical pangs during billions 
of ages for every second of sin" and so forth. It is, however, the one 
point of retribution for sin, other than that death by which the Son 
of God established righteousness, that he is in accord with the almost 
universal dictum of systematic theology, and which ought to be brought 
to the test by every one who would uphold the Gospel of God. 

Farrar says, "Retribution beyond the grave is revealed." "Natural 
laws which are the Divine laws of retribution by which all evil is 



106 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

punished, until it is repented of, both in this world and beyond the 
grave." "These parables of Judgment are full of awful warning, 
they dwell on the warning and not the hope. It is on this very ground 
that I cannot teach that all souls will be saved." He deprecates 
Semitic "metaphors," but seems to fall before the "parables." He 
says, "I believe, in accordance with what the church has ever held, 
that as unrepented sin is punished here, so also it is punished beyond 
the grave; that among the punishments of the world to come there 
are 'few stripes' as well as 'many stripes;' that there will be degrees 
of blessedness and degrees of punishment or deprivation; that no 
sinner can be pardoned or accepted till he has repented, and till his 
free will is in unison with the Will of God ; and I cannot tell whether 
some souls may not resist God forever." His published creed 
("Mercy and Judgment") closes with words that redeem much mis- 
conception and to which every true believer can say Amen. "I believe 
in the coming of that time when, — though in what sense I cannot 
pretend to explain or to fathom, — 

"GOD WILL BE ALL IN ALL. GLORY TO GOD." 
Here are some other words of Farrar : "There is a terrible retri- 
bution upon impenitent sin, both here and hereafter. Sin cannot be 
forgiven till it is forsaken and repented of" — (this for all in bliss or 
misery). Referring to the dead of Westminster Abbey, he says, 
"Many, though not saints, were yet noble, though erring men, and of 
whom (though they, and we alike, shall suffer, both here and here- 
after, the penalty of unrepentant sin) we yet cannot and will not 
think of as damned to unutterable tortures by irreversible decrees." 
"In common with all Christians I believed that there would be a 
future punishment of unrepented sin." 

Popular ideas are far from definite, but it might be admitted that 
there is future discipline in the school of God. May we not at least 
consider the idea that future pains are on account of "ignorance and 
unbelief" of God, and that these are not visited by penalty. Do not 
think that this is too fine a distinction. It is to confess the integrity 
and sufficiency of Christ's work in "becoming sin for us" that this 
point is pressed. The penalty, the only Scriptural penalty, for sin 
was paid when the First-born of all creation went down into death 
and took the whole old creation with Him. This is a matter of 
faith. This is no Natural Religion. Natural Religion is not of faith; 
it is of works. 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 107 

Those who believe that Sempiternity is revealed in the Bible, — 
from Farrar, who elaborates every phase of hope and still admits the 
possibility of eternal self-will in awful sin to few perhaps, but cer- 
tainly to some, if they continue rebellious ; down to those who give most 
lurid descriptions of physical and mental torment in Hell, Tertul- 
lian, Augustine, Dante, Calvin, Edwards, Spurgeon, — have brought 
perverted natural legal ideas and the Gospel of God concerning His 
Son into a mixture that vitiates both. Paul condemns this mixture. 
Can you not see that Natural Religion is wholly within the sphere 
of law, and that it recognizes a Law-giver who is not allowed to 
bring the Gospel into Court? All believers in future retribution, 
short or long, mild or severe, are under law and fallen from Grace 
in this particular. These worshipers of an unknown god, who are 
under the law to the extent of believing in endless retribution, and 
who do not go to the extreme of punishment, fly to other forms of 
error, and attempt to mitigate these horrors by inventions of the 
natural man. "They have sought out many inventions" (Eccl.7 : 29), 
and a "purgatory of discipline furnishes the anesthetic that dulls the 
spiritual senses." 

-Now, there is evidence a-plenty, if it will only be considered, that 
pains and penalties do not make the natural man any better, neither 
in earthly penitent-iaries nor in Hadean-pains. Before we stir up this 
miasmatic mess, profitable only to mass-sellers, unprofitable spiritually, 
take a Scriptural antiseptic. Heb. 9:26, "Now once for all at the 
ends of the eons hath He been manifested to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of Himself;" Heb. 1 : 3, "when He had made purification 
from sins, seated Himself on the right hand of the Majesty on high." 
Official church "purgation" is accomplished by masses and prayers 
for the dead, and by minute consideration of what is due to sinners 
of all sizes, colors, and circumstances. Those Balaamites advertise 
"sin cleansing" by pain, fire, stripes, despair, etc., etc. Their charge 
is graduated by what the traffic will stand. "The fire of Purgatory 
boils the monk's saucepan." May we not "reform" this into — "The 
fire of Hell boils the parson's potatoes." Sins are made mortal and 
venial, wholesale and retail; God, they say, must have penance and 
satisfaction, both here and hereafter, even from those who are par- 
doned. "The merit of Christ's death does not satisfy justice, does not 
procure a full remission of sin before death, nor [as it may happen] 
for a long time after" (Jeremy Taylor, pp. 192-195). They imagine 



108 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

that "when God doth remit sin, and the punishment eternal thereto 
belonging, He .reserveth the torments of hell-fire to be nevertheless 
endured for a time, either shorter or longer, according to the quality 
of men's crimes." The ancient Fathers also speak almost unanimously 
of a fire of purgation after this life. A wearisome list could be made 
of those in every generation from the completion of the Bible on, 
who thus find the work of Christ insufficient. If the Father thought 
Christ's work does not make one meet to be a partaker of the in- 
heritance of the saints in light, can any amount of fire, soap and 
water, physical and mental torture, accomplish anything? Take hold 
of this; the evils of pain and penalty do not make anyone better; 
discipline in itself does not make better. Discipline can but bring 
despair of self and drive the soul to the only source of good. And 
if there never had been a sin committed up to date, yet discipline was 
necessary if the ignorant was to learn of God ; and every finite creature 
suffers from ignorance and needs to be taught of God. Sin is a 
temporary evil; a transgression of a temporary law (Gal. 3: 19, 20). 
Its experience is calculated to break down self-sufficiency and con- 
fidence, from the Anointed Cherub down to the unclean demons, or 
the lowest human being. As an evil, sin's consequences are discipli- 
nary. No evil makes the creature good, but all evil, sin included, 
makes a man dissatisfied and tends to make him cry for help. "Help 
cometh from God!" Jesus Christ of Nazareth! "There is salvation 
by no other, for there is not another name under heaven given among 
men, by which we can be saved." "Every good gift and every perfect 
gift comes from above, descending from the Father of lights, with 
whom there is not a change of position or shadow of variation." 

In the attempt to soften down Hell so that they could believe in it 
and not believe in it at the same time, we have F. W. Faber and 
Cardinal Newman telling us "how to be happy in hell." The Cardi- 
nal pictures the pains of purgatory as almost bliss. "In the willing 
agony he plunges and is blest," probably a perversion of Phil. 2: 10, 
where "the triumph of Jesus is seen in the worship of the under- 
world." ( Bickersteth. ) Farrar says of the church's tolerance of 
these ameliorating details: "In the doctrine of an intermediate state 
with its possible purgatorial and probatory fire; in the permitted 
practice of prayer for the dead ; in the revealed fact of Christ's descent 
into Hades; in the belief that mitigations (for good behavior?) 
would be granted to the lost souls, the Catholic Church has given 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 109 

comfort and hope to those who find a stumbling block in the remorse- 
lessness of human fancies." 

Justice! Justice! Supreme Justice! is the cry of these modern 
eternalists. Their gospel proclaims a brief opportunity in which by 
self-determination and repentance they have shown themselves to be 
"not like other men." They are like the pharisaic mob around a 
county jail shouting, "Lynch him!" "Lynch him!" This is zeal for 
justice without appeal. Is it Judge Lynch, Judge Moloch, that 
settles human destiny ? Why do these same lawyers scorn Mariolatry ? 
Her worshipers turn from the "Great Moral Governor of the Uni- 
verse," who is set forth as nothing but a judge of a criminal court, 
to the human mother, blessed above women, for relief. As if God 
does not claim for Himself more tenderness than a mother (Isa. 
49: 15). Their God sends to hell; their Mother Mary saves from 
purgatorial fires. 

Farrar sees from his uncertain legal viewpoint that the majority 
of men are just "middling" when they die. Heaven is too good for 
them and Hell is too bad, and if there is not a purgatory, there ought 
to be one. He would call it the "Intermediate State," in which he 
"hopes" but cannot assuredly believe. "Forgiveness" is the one great 
act of God which saves! This is the false position of so many that 
one despairs of all professed theologians. "Forgiveness of sins is 
not salvation." You might forgive the devil for all the ill that he 
has done to you, but that would not change his character. (Gal. 6 : 15.) 
"There exists the tyranny of words, rabble-charming words which 
have much wild-fire wrapped up in them, — a certain bewitching or 
fascination which makes them operate with a force beyond what we 
can naturally give account of" (Jas. 3: 5-12). Minds that have ap- 
parently no independent power of thought seize upon these catch- 
words. Peter warns, "In greed shall they with feigned words make 
merchandise of you." 

Here are a few words that have misled millions — hell, damnation, 
everlasting, eternity. "There are men, or rather ecclesiastical 
magnates who regard popular misconceptions as too useful and 
profitable to be corrected." 

"Endless penalty could have been revealed in terms that would 
have left no dispute. The absence of these terms in passages dealing 
with destiny, when compared with their use elsewhere in the Bible, 
is very striking. If Gehenna had but once been called atelentos, 



110 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

or aperantoSj or adialeiptos , or that life in such punishment should be 
aphthartos. Or if the chains "were akatalutos (that could not be 
loosed). Christian writers have used these expressions, but they are 
not to be found in Holy Writ." — Farrar. 

"Mankind believe in Hell, as they believe in the Divine existence, 
by reason of their moral sense. Men do not get rid of their fear of 
future punishment; it is intrenched in man's moral constitution." 
(Shedd.) This is Natural Religion. A Divine Gospel alone will 
deliver a man from "a conscience of sin" and a "fearful looking for- 
ward to judgment." "Because of the endlessness of sin." "Sin is 
being added to sin in the future life and the amount of guilt is ac- 
cumulating." "Eternity of punishment — exact justice for sins done 
in the body." How is justice to be satisfied for sins endlessly ac- 
cumulating? This zeal for justice is like the Jew's zeal for God, 
It ignores the Gospel of God. 

We might speculate. Is justice established for the wrong done 
to another human being by this endlessly punished sinner. He stole 
a thousand dollars and brought poverty to his victim. He killed the 
son and brought grief to the family. How is justice to be satisfied 
for that? His victim must suffer endless wrong. Let those who have 
zeal for law but not for Gospel, answer. Will God permit endless 
injustice along with endless law and endless sin and endless punish- 
ment ? The Devil wronged Eve. Will punishment right Eve's wrong ? 
One man wrongs another man. If the evil-doer goes to sempiternal 
torment, will this in any way restore the victim's right? If the 
evil-doer repents and dwells in endless bliss, and his victim goes to 
endless misery, the question is the same. Think of all the wrongs 
suffered by the weak ones in the habitations of cruelty. The great 
mass of these, according to the advocates of hell, suffer endless tor- 
ments for rejecting the Savior. But The First-born from the dead is 
the GAAL, the redeemer, the avenger of all wrong — shall not the 
victim be requited? Does law do anything in the way of restitution 
here? No, for the idea is not even broached by either side of the 
controversy. The relation of the Judge and the criminal is considered 
from every standpoint, but that of man to man is ignored. Scripture 
says that "no man liveth unto himself," and no man goeth to his 
destined future to himself alone. The Universe has but one Head, 
and nothing can exist apart from that life-giving Spiritual Head, not 
even the famous "self-determined" one. "He giveth to all life and 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE III 

breath and all things." "In Him we live and move and have our 
being," Who is authorized or prepared to say from Scripture that it 
ever will be otherwise? Believer! If you have wronged your neigh- 
bor beyond your power to remedy, your salvation will not make that 
right. Must you not commit to the risen Christ the righting of 
all wrongs? And will the Head of the New Creation not cut short 
His work in righteousness? Even should Christ condescend to be 
a minister of law, would He tolerate the law's delays? endlessly? 
There will be no unfinished business left when He is done. Do not 
take refuge in generalities. What is the standard which, if attained 
to, makes a man right with God? secures a verdict of "not guilty?" 
How is that standard attained? Adam was righteous. "God made 
man upright." Is this the standard? The Decalog is the standard 
of the Sinaitic covenant. The "Righteousness of God" apart from 
law! — is it not this which gives its possessor to have "no more con- 
science of sin?" 

Note how a wrong standpoint distorts the entire view, in the 
following from Dr. Shedd. "With the Christian Gospel in hi 5 
hands the defender of Divine justice finds it difficult to be entirely 
reticent, and say not a word about the Divine mercy. Over against 
God's infinite antagonism and righteous severity toward moral evil, 
there stands God's infinite pity and desire to forgive. This is realized 
not by the high-handed and unprincipled method of pardoning without 
legal satisfaction of any kind, but by the stupendous method of putting 
the Eternal Judge in the place of the human criminal ; of substituting 
God's own satisfaction for that due from the man. In this vicarious 
atonement for sin, the Triune God relinquishes no claims of law, and 
waives no right of justice. The sinner's Divine substitute, in His 
hour of voluntary agony and death, drinks the cup of primitive and 
inexorable justice to the dregs! Any man, who, in penitent faith, 
avails himself of this vicarious method of setting himself right with 
the Eternal Nemesis will find that it succeeds. But he who rejects it 
must through endless cycles grapple with the dread problem of human 
guilt in his own person, and alone." Here is human dogmatism, 
presumption, assumption, dictatorial complacency, professorial pro- 
fundity, zeal for justice that slights the gospel; adulterated theology, 
subtle (or is it unconscious?) choice of misleading words, a perversion 
of the Truth. — O, it will pass, time and again, with a silly laity that 
does not discriminate, and so will a counterfeit hundred-dollar bill. 
8 



112 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

God "defended" justice by the cross. His Sovereign gracious gift is 
something more even than "mercy." He not only had a "desire" to 
forgive. He has forgiven every last sinner. It was not a Judge that 
was crucified; it was God's Son. It was more than "atonement," 
that was a temporary "covering" only; the word is not used after the 
sin of the world was "put away." Jesus "drinks the cup of punitive 
and inexorable justice to the dregs," — but the professor turns it over 
to be drunk again by an assumed "final rejecter" who never heard of 
the offer he is said to reject. Then imagine, if you can, every lost 
victim of the law "grappling with the dread problem" through 
endless cycles. 

The reader should confine these vituperations strictly to the public 
utterances above quoted, without prejudice to the excellences of char- 
acter or value of achievement which friends of the Doctor may 
know of. The extract is picked out for a vituperable example. 
Every man is responsible for what he publishes. 

This "ofier" of mercy and forgiveness, the acceptance or rejection 
of which must be made during a brief opportunity; and the decision 
so made to be the last chance of a so-called "self-determination" to 
fix an endless condition, gives the impression that the offer is mainly' 
to justify God in exercising a vengeance which there is no escaping. 
Is this the stingy way that God "sets forth" his "propitiatory" in 
Romans 3 ? Is this the tone of God's beseeching the world to be 
reconciled in II Corinthians 5 ? It may be justly demanded that 
men pay tithes of mint, anise, and cumin, but the very nature that 
God claims for Himself should not be ignored. "God is Love." 
Is this infinitely important fact to be dismissed as sentimentality 
which has no place in a Criminal Court? Love is His nature. 
Justice is a principle that must be subject. It is written again that 
righteousness was established by one act of the Son. Justice? When 
the Infinite One, who says that His nature is Love, is dealing with 
one of His finite creatures, is this tremendous disparity of wisdom 
and nature to be exercised to the detriment of the weaker one only, 
or does not The Almighty Himself accept responsibility? He does, 
and so far from any shirking, His Blessed Representative says, "Lo, I 
come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do 
Thy Will, O God !" "I am Jehovah thy God." Who is your God ? 
What is His name? What is His nature? Why is the important 
truth of Christ's Headship to be put out of Court? Why not search 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 113 

the Scripture on this doctrine and render unto God the faith that is 
His due? A father may act judiciously in his own family, but he 
does not have to do violence to his fatherhood in order to maintain 
justice. "I am Jehovah thy God which brought thee out of the land 
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." All the perverseness of Jacob 
has not caused Jehovah to withdraw as a party to that covenant. 
Why not joyfully proclaim the steadfast security of this Rock? Why 
not credit Jehovah with His Divine initiative? What perverts the 
theologian to write, "There is no necessity, so far as the action of 
God is concerned, that a single human being should ever be the subject 
of future punishment" and this by one who holds the common per- 
verted view of election. As if God folded His hands and threw the 
whole responsibility upon man, or rather upon that humbug, "Free- 
will." Take it, or leave it! And even if "doomed" by a "rejection" 
of that which they never heard of? O, yes! They are "without 
excuse," but who is to say that God who "beseeches" us to be recon- 
ciled, has presented all possible inducements to move the soul of 
these others? "Without excuse?" These speakers for super- 
punishment make God act a part that is also "without excuse." God 
has some rights that man is bound to respect. He objects to 
being represented as other than He is, as acting humanly rather 
than Godly. "Thou verily thoughtest I was altogether such a one 
as thyself." (Ps. 50: 21.) 

Note the order of Scripture, — judgment first, then mercy based 
on justice satisfied. "I kill" first; God destroys, condemns all evil, 
but He "makes alive." He saves all good, all that is redeemed from 
the law, all the new creation, in short, all "in Christ;" and The Uni- 
verse is "in Christ" risen, Head over the Universe (Eph. 1:21). 
The intelligent part of the Universe is "in Christ" before they believe, 
by virtue of purchase, and by virtue of resurrection power and purpose. 
"All Souls are mine." "Lord both of the dead and of the living" 
(Rom. 14: 9). All live to Him. The "penalty" is paid. If we die, 
we pay no penalty, we "die unto the Lord." One paid the penalty, 
no other ever did, nor ever will, so far as "justice" is concerned. 
There are other principles of God that should receive due attention. 

Wisdom hath builded her house. She hath set up the seven pillars 
thereof (Proverbs 9). Discipline, the training of spiritual senses by 
exercise, is one of these pillars. It is one principle of Divine pedagogy. 
Moo-sahr occurs in Proverbs 30 times and is rendered, instruction, 



114 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

chastening, correction. Hos. 5 : 2 has rebuke, and Job 36: 10 has 
discipline. It is used first in Deut. 11: 12, and Verses 1-9 rehearse 
the dealings of Jehovah with Israel from Egypt to Jordan as discipline. 
See also Heb. 5: 11-14. Physical and spiritual "setting-up" exercises 
may be painful, but the result justifies the practice. 

"Penalty" is inflexible, irremissible ; the integrity of the law re- 
quires it. The declared penalty for transgression of God's law is 
death, the whole of death, and nothing but death. Legalists, denying 
the Gospel, have invented a Purgatory and a Hell. They have 
exhausted language to intensify all imaginable torments as penalty 
for sin. They have made sin and its penalty an endlessly increasing 
horror. They would make void the "Gospel of God concerning His 
Son," the propitiation set forth for the whole world, and the gift of 
resurrection life on the bases of the established righteousness of God. 
The wages of sin is death and when the Head of all creation entered 
into death, the wages was paid, sin settled, and Grace made regnant. 

Platonian "immortality of the soul" requires definition. "Soul" 
in the Bible is that which loves and hates; emotional. What a Soul 
loves, that it is. Soul desires are either good or bad. Deathlessness 
of soul is deathlessness of desire. Immortality of the spirit would be, 
what? The spirit is intelligence and reason. God is Supreme Intel- 
ligence. Body apart from spirit is dead, even as faith and works 
apart are dead. The Supreme Spirit is not mortal; He is one and 
indivisible. Man is mortal; his organism may disintegrate into body 
— soul — spirit. In this condition the man is dead. The corpse is not 
dead as an entity until it returns to dust. The soul separated from 
the body can have no bodily desires. But in death soul and spirit 
still have some relation. If the spirit is not conscious, the soul would 
not act (as in sleep), for its desires must be of the body, or of the 
spirit. 

Death apart from the Cross has never been a penalty; it has been 
a Providential act of expediency. For Enoch and many Millennial 
millions will not see death, while Abel and millions of righteous ones 
have died. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
Enoch was translated that he should not see death. He was mortal, 
yes dead in Adam. He, as part of the old creation, died and paid 
the penalty when Christ died (II Cor. 5 : 15). Immortality for 
Enoch was in Christ, not in Adam. This is true of all; there is no 
immortality of the Adamic soul. Platonic immortality of the soul 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 1 15 

was a necessity in the philosophy of man if he was to suffer a future 
penalty. And this immortality, so-called, was a bodiless one. Why- 
should Christendom go to Christ for a pardon, but to Plato for an 
immortal soul? The believer should believe "in Christ all" as truly 
as "in Adam all." And yet the Episcopal prayer-book is allowed to 
perpetuate the phrase, "eternal death." 

Shedd says, "Take the doctrine of eternal perdition, and the 
antithetic doctrine of eternal salvation, out of the confessions of 
Augustine, out of the Sermons of Chrysostom ; out of the 'Imitation 
of a Kempis;' out of Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress;' out of Jeremy 
Taylor's 'Holy Living and Dying;' out of Baxter's 'Saints' Ever- 
lasting Rest;' and what is left?" "Left?" — A new creation of which 
Christ is the Head and in which God is all in all is something left, 
even if infinity is not made comprehensible to a limited creature. 

Krima, judgment. John 9: 39, Then Jesus said, "I came into the 
world to be a Separator, So that those who do not see may see [i. e., 
the blind man] and that those who see may become blind" [i. e., the 
Pharisees] — "because you say 'we see,' therefore your sin remains." 
Separator, the word is Krima, judgment. 

Acts 24: 25, "and the judgment about to come." This is the 
Millennial judgment of Messiah, fulfilling prophecy. (So Heb. 6:2.) 

Rom. 5 : 16, "for though the judgment (Krima) was out of one 
to condemnation" (Katakrima). This was the mind of God ex- 
pressed in Eden. In fact, even then by anticipation, Christ in Head- 
ship died for all, thus paying the penalty. So that Enoch, seeing this, 
escaped death by faith. 

Rom. ii : 32, 33, "How unsearchable His judgments!" And what 
was this judgment that calls forth an exclamation of praise? What 
but His statement that His act shutting up all to unbelief (not sin) 
was "that He might have mercy upon all!" Thus His judgment 
establishes righteousness and clears the way for universal mercy. 

Rev. 18:20, "Rejoice over her, heaven, and the saints, and the 
apostles and the prophets! for God did execute your judgment upon 
her." Babylon is a city and a system, the fall of which may well 
cause rejoicing. This does not decide the fate of her inhabitants any 
more than the fall of the tower of Siloam did those who were 
killed by it. 

Rev. 20:4, "And judgment was given unto them," i.e., the 



Il6 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

righteous according to Rev. 6: 10, n; n: 18, the time to right the 
wrongs of the dead, and "the rewarding of your own servants." 

Krino. John 5: 22, "The Father judgeth no man." John 8: 15, 
16, "I judge no man, and yet if I judge, My judgment is true." 

Acts 17: 30, 31, "God, however, overlooking those periods of 
ignorance, now calls to all men everywhere to change their mind; 
because He has appointed a day in which He is about to judge the 
habitable earth with justice by a Man whom He has provided." 
Messiah is about to judge the living for 1,000 years. This is not the 
Theologians' Great Assize. This is the function of a King. 

Krisis (Matt. 10: 15). En hemera kriseos, no article (Matt. 1 1 : 
22, 24; 12: 36). 

John 12: 31, Now! is the crisis of this world! The Son of man 
is to be lifted up. This overthrows the prince of this world. This 
by death overcomes death ; i. e., the penalty is paid once for all, and 
death ceases to be punishment. It is made null and void! 

Heb. 9:27, "Forasmuch as it was appointed unto man once for 
all to die and after that, judgment, thus the Christ, once dying and 
having been judged righteous and successful by resurrection, will when 
he appears the second time, do so, apart from sin!" The sin having 
been settled. Christ having thus met the appointment that was due 
every man, proclaims death a nullity, judgment passed, His coming 
looked for by the living who believe, and after the thousand years, 
a dealing with the dead who will then see and believe as Saul of 
Tarsus did. All the discipline imagined in a purgatorial state and 
all the agonies of an imaginary hell, are not God's appointed agencies 
of regeneration or purification. One look did the business for Saul 
of Tarsus, and one look at the Face of the One Enthroned on the 
Great White Throne (and that look the first one from Cain down) 
will accomplish more than all the pangs of the old creation, Augustine 
and Predestine to the contrary notwithstanding. Heb. 10:27, "a 
fearful looking for of judgment." Of course, if Cain, and the 
Hebrew, and you turn- the back to Jesus Christ, you will see nothing 
but the logical conclusions of a guilty conscience; but if any, from 
Cain to the last ignoramus, will but look into the face of Jesus, they 
will see Him, who is declared to be the same yesterday, to-day and 
for the eons. 

Jude 15, Coming to execute judgment for one thousand years. 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 117 

Heb. 4: 12, The word of God is a Judge (kritikos) discerner — 
dividing between soul and spirit. 

Matt. 3 : 10-12. Dr. Beet says, "This teaches retribution beyond 
the grave." John preached the Kingdom at hand. Messiah, the King 
of the Jews, takes into His kingdom, when He comes, repentant 
Israel, but to Apostate Israel there is the one thousand years of 
discipline. These are the two goals of the two paths of Matt. 7 • 
13, 14, and of Vs. 19-27. This occurs at the end of this eon 
(Matt. 13 : 24-30, 39-43, 48-50; 16: 27 ; 25 : 41-46; John 3 : 36) . All 
judgment is given to the Son of Man, who acts in this character for 
the eon, establishing righteousness on earth. After the thousand 
years, The Son of God, who giveth life, will deal with the dead. 
It is assertion only when Dr. Beet says that these Messianic disposi- 
tions, which Christ makes as King of Kings over living nations, 
"evidently refer to retribution beyond the grave." 

"That the Christian teaching of retribution beyond the grave 
occupies so small and indefinite a place in the Old Testament, in con- 
trast to its large place in the religion of ancient Egypt, and in the 
teaching of Plato, is one of the most perplexing facts in Old Testa- 
ment theology." (Dr. Beet.) (And see Judith 16: 17; Wisdom 
2 : 23 ; 3 : 1-4 ; Enoch 5 1 : 1 ; 53 : 2 ; 54 : 6 ; 58 : 3 ; "Josephus's Wars," 
Bk. II, 8; "Antiquities," Bk. XVIII, 1 : 3-5.) Plato's philosophical 
setting forth of future retribution has been welcomed and appealed 
to as confirmatory of the place given it in the theology of churches 
and Bible Institutes. 

Dean Gray, "The rich man lifted up his eyes in Hades, but as he 
was experiencing torment, it is evident that he was in that part of 
Hades known commonly as 'Hell.' " (1) "This," he argues, "makes 
Hell a place, and locates it in Hades." "The punishment of the 
wicked is for deeds done in the body; (2) they are to be raised and 
judged in their bodies; (3) Jesus speaks of the body being cast into 
'Hell.' " (Matt. 5 : 29, 30; 10: 28.) (4) "Gehenna is thus located 
in Hades." "In the empire of the dead (5) (Hades), there is one 
place, Abraham's Bosom, or Paradise, corresponding to 'Elysium' for 
the righteous, and another 'Hell,' or 'Gehenna' as it is sometimes 
called, corresponding to 'Tartarus' for the wicked." 

( 1 ) This is far from "evident." See meaning of this parable, 
elsewhere. (2) II Cor. 5 : 10, This phrase occurs here only. 
The "judgment seat of Christ" is limited to the coming eon, and is 



s 



Il8 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

wrongly used to bolster up the false idea of a "final great criminal 
assize" whose findings are said to be endless. (3) The Scripture 
says "the dead." The Dean says "the resurrected." (4) Gehenna, 
see p. 127. (5) "Of the dead," this would, then, describe a condi- 
tion before resurrection and final sentence. 

Eternal penalty is a long-drawn-out vague issue, contrary to the 
decisive Divine effectiveness that leaves nothing in an unfinished state. 
Plumptre says much, but very little decisively. He speaks of "Uni- 
versal Restoration" as a half-truth and of endless penalty as another 
half-truth. This compromises. If there are paradoxes in the Divine 
curriculum, they are for the true learner to exercise his spiritual senses 
upon. If we will dismiss human vagaries which appeal to natural 
sense alone, we will clear the subject of much that "darkens counsel." 

Plumptre, "punishment (kolasis) in Hades is remedial and re- 
formatory and leads to repentance, and this work is easier for those 
who are no longer hampered by the flesh!" 

Jeremy Taylor, "Conditional immortality is less to be objected to 
than the fancy of Origen; (Universal Restoration) (1) for it is 
strange to suppose an endless torment to those to whom it was never 
threatened, to those who never heard of Christ, to those who lived 
probably well, to heathens of good lives, to ignorant and untaught 
people, to people surprised in a single crime, to men that die young 
in their natural follies and foolish lusts, to those that fall in a sudden 
gaiety and excessive joy, to all alike: to all infinite and eternal, even 
to unwarned people, and that this should be inflicted by God, who 
infinitely loves His creatures, (2) Who died for them, Who pardons 
easily, and pities readily, and excuses much, and delights in our being 
saved, and would not have us die, and takes little things in exchange 
for great. It is certain that God's mercies are infinite, and it is also 
certain that the matter of eternal torment cannot be understood. And 
even when the Schoolmen go about to reconcile the Divine justice to 
that severity, and consider why God punishes eternally a temporal sin 
or a state of evil, they speak variously, and uncertainly, and unsatis- 
factorily." But then the Bishop goes on in the same old traditional 
church teaching. ( 1 ) If this read "Tertullian," we could see more 
consistency in what follows. (2) How legal all these writers are! 
As if man's nature was nothing, and account was kept of acts of crime 
alone, which, being pardoned to the penitent, was salvation, but which 
unrepented of was unforgiven and punished. How did the poor 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 119 

layman under these lawyers get enough gospel to believe, and experi- 
ence salvation? The layman's ignorance was the church's treasury. 

F. D. Maurice, "What dream of ours can reach the words of 
St. John that Death and Hades shall be cast into the Lake of the Fire? 
But they are written — I accept them, and give thanks for them^- 
I feel there is an abyss of death into which I may sink and be lost. 
Christ's gospel reveals an abyss of Love below that. I am content 
to be lost — in that!' 

Sir Harry Vane, Whichcote, Milton, Taylor, Borrow, Ray, were 
together at Cambridge. 

H. MacAdam (1900), "After 60 years listening to teachers and 
preachers, I can recall very few who have not shown a taint of legality, 
when they speak of the future." Gradually "becoming fit" for 
Heaven, and "legal penalties for sinners" and kindred expressions 
are common. 

Rev. Rudolph Suffield, twenty years "Apostolic Missionary," says: 
"We never expected virtue or high motives or a noble life from the 
fear of hell ; but we practically found it useless as a deterrent. It 
always influenced the wrong people in a wrong way. It caused 
infidelity to some, temptation to others, and misery without virtue 
to most. It appealed to the lowest motives and the lowest characters ; 
not, however, to deter them from vice, but to make them willing 
subjects of sad and often puerile superstitions." — White s "Life in 
Christ." 

Can the apples of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah grow in 
the same soil with the Tree of Life? 

Burdens to yourselves, curses to the world, you can yet become 
true sons of God. 



"Should I be nearer Christ, she said, 
By pitying less 
The sinful living or woful dead 

In their helplessness? 
And the angels all were silent. 

"Should I be liker Christ were I 
To love no more 
The loved, who in their anguish lie 

Outside the door? 
And the angels all were silent. 



120 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

"Did He not hang on the cursed tree, 
And bear its shame? 
And clasp to His heart, for love of me, 

My guilt and blame! 
And the angels all were silent. 

"The Lord Himself stood by the gate, 

And heard her speak 
Those tender words compassionate, 

Gentle and meek; 
And the angels all were silent. 

"Now pity is the touch of God 
In human hearts, 
And from that way He ever trod 

He ne'er departs; 
And the angels all were silent." 

— From Olrig Grange. 

These legalists say that arguments based on God's character are 
not to be used; but one of their own strong points is made on the 
judicial character of the "Great Moral Governor of the Universe." 
"Justice demands." Yes, Justice demands justice, but Love de- 
mands love. When the demands of justice have been fully met and 
satisfied by One who took the responsibility upon Himself, then Love 
is free to act, and Grace reigns. Who, then, would fear the action 
God would take? Can He act out of character? Does Scripture 
draw no inferences from the Divine Character? Yes! Many. "He 
is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity" (and pass it by). "Shall not 
the Judge of all the earth do right?" pleaded Abraham. 

Gen. 3 : 20, Did not Adam draw an inference? 

Job 14: 15, Job draws an inference. 

Ps. 11:6, For Jehovah is righteous. 

Ezek. 36:22, For My Holy Name. 

Ps. 29 : 2, The Glory due unto His Name. 

Men of God have good warrant for some inferences, and they 
have not hesitated to draw them. We can count on success! on God 
satisfied! on the Triumph of Love! on Justice satisfied! We have 
to draw inferences or leave eternity alone, for Christ is the Alpha 
and the Omega. We trust in the changelessness of God. We do not 
have to harmonize Love and everlasting torment. We are about to 



PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 121 

embark on an unknown sea; we learn all we can about the Captain, 
the vessel; we trust ourselves on inferences of good import. The 
Captain is not a pirate. "I will trust and not be afraid." Heaven 
is not described to us, though earthly glory is. The latter is the 
fulfilment of a covenant, and Abraham went forth, not knowing 
Canaan. And all must go forth, not knowing Eternity. 



CHAPTER VIII 

HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 

Persons and Places, Celestials, Terrestrials, Subterrenes, 
Their Eonian Course and Destiny 

Heavens and Earth, the Grave, Thanatos, Hades and Lower 
Hades, Sheol, Gehenna, Tartarus, the Lake of the Fire, Death, 
After Death, Resurrection and a New Creation! God all in all! 
Life in Christ, the assurance of something beyond ! The momentous 
epoch but two chiliads distant! How God is magnified to us, as 
faith lays hold of the revealed future! 

Heaven. Our English translations show the usual negligence of 
detail in the rendering, "Heaven." A study of the singular, dual, 
and plural of the original will reward the diligent. The word occurs 
in the Old Testament 458 times, always in the dual number. Con- 
sider this in the manner of Heb. 9: 8-10, 23, and it would appear that 
the second and third heavens were not then differentiated. The two 
heavens were the visible and invisible. The veil was not then rent 
that opened up the Holiest. 

In the New Testament, Heaven occurs 94 times and heavens 189 
times. The singular is used in Matt. 5:18, till heaven and earth pass. 
In Matthew, "kingdom of the heavens" is always plural. So-called 
because it is the kingdom that the "God of the Heavens shall set up" 
(Dan. 2:44) after Anti-Christian kingdoms have been destroyed. 
"Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 24 : 30) . By the 
singular number and the mention of clouds, we know that the sky, 
the first heaven, is meant, and that this appearance is in Christ's 
material resurrection body. When the Church, the "body" of Christ, 
is mentioned, the plural is used, as its place in Christ is above all 
heavens. This differentiates between those called up above (Phil. 
3: 14; Col. 3 : 1) where Christ sitteth, and the saints caught up to 
meet the Lord in the air. These latter saints have an earthly destiny, 
and they return with "the Son of Man" (I Thess. 4: 13-18). 
Capernaum was exalted up to the sky (not heaven) and cast down 
to Hades (not hell). The covenant people were promised the bliss 
of the Millennial reign. When they look up they see the sky. Jesus 
disappears into the sky; when He returns He appears to them, out 

122 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 123 

of the sky. If Stephen sees Jesus, or John has a vision, the sky opens. 
But in this dispensation "our citizenship is in the heavens;" we are 
blessed "in the heavenlies," "seated with Christ in the heavenlies," — 
all plural. 

Dan. 4: 17, "The heavens do rule," man in the first heaven, his 
feet on earth; Angels in the second heaven, messengers between the 
two; Christ in the third, where the Mercy-Seat is. The opposite of 
this is, first the grave, second and third, Hades and Lower Hades. 
The Scripture puts highest Heaven and lowest Hades in contrast, 
not Heaven and Gehenna. Hades and Gehenna differ. The Divines 
of 161 1 who revised the English Bible had one heaven above for the 
good and one hell below for the bad, and this they thought was 
enough for the Humans. They ignored Greek singulars and plurals 
apparently without rhyme or reason. This idea of there being nothing 
but Elysian fields for the good and Tartarean chains for the bad, as 
the pagan idea of justice demands, is practically the doctrine of 
Christendom to-day. But Paul tells us that in the triumph of the 
Son of God, every knee shall bow, of Celestials and Terrestrials and 
Subterrenes. Here are mentioned dwellers in three different parts 
of the Universe. And there are three classes — angels, men, and 
demons. With the exception of Paul's later writings, where the 
heavenly body is revealed, there is no Scripture that makes Heaven 
the destiny of any human being. The earth was given the children 
of men; the destiny of the covenant people and of the great mass of 
Gentiles is the new earth. The few expressions picked up elsewhere 
point to the Millennial reign of Christ and "His right hand" there. 
The rewards, the treasure laid up, the "well done, good and faithful," 
refer to Israel, the servant of Jehovah. 

The "exceeding riches of grace" in the glory of the heavenly body, 
and the oneness in Christ of believers of this dispensation, make the 
mention of rewards for service, and crowns, and thrones but as 
theatrical tinsel compared with the wealth of Ind. "In My Father's 
house are many mansions" is to be taken in connection with John 2:16. 
It refers in the future to the Millennial mansions for the priests of 
the kingdoms, who serve with the Millennial Temple. The first 
heaven and earth flee away from the face of Him who sits on the 
Great White Throne. The blaze of this throne, like the Holiness 
of God, is bliss to the purified, and torment to the unclean. It is 
this unveiled glory, limited only by the Universe, that is the Lake 



124 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

of the Divine Fire. In its Light, Thanatos and Hades are gone; 
there is no Gehenna, no Tartarus. It is no more "punishment" than 
the physical results of Paul's experience with it was when it shone 
out brighter than the noonday sun. The glory of Christ thus shines 
throughout the seventh chiliad; but the greater glory of the Son of 
God shines out for, let us say, possibly, an eighth chiliad, the Scriptural 
"Day of God." 

Death, the disorganization of body, soul, and spirit, is the penalty 
of broken law. The whole principle of the thing was demonstrated 
in Eden. There was one Law, one transgression, one man, and one 
penalty. The covenant of the Law was but a repetition and con- 
tinuation of the same principle for some 1,520 years. Note this: 
God never did what man does; enunciate law and penalty as one 
absolute system of justice. The Tree of Life was in the same soil 
as the forbidden tree; the ceremonial gospel and priesthood was an 
elaborate accompaniment of the covenant of works. The judgment 
of God is not executed as a bare principle; the ends of the Lord are 
always good, and merciful; more than justice. 

Men died, from Adam to the crucified malefactor, with two ex- 
ceptions; the body was buried in the grave by man; the soul (nephesh) 
and Spirit (ruach) went down to Hades. (Sheol.*) Men have 
died, but this was not to pay the penalty; that was provided for 
representatively. Adam named his wife Eve (Living) because this 
sentence was not then and there executed. For four thousand years 
the one act of the foreordained Surety and Redeemer was anticipated. 
He, as representative Head, in place of Adam, became responsible 
for all sin and penalty. "We thus judge that one died for all, then 
all died (II Cor. 5: 14). "I was crucified with Christ," says Paul 
(Gal. 2 : 20 ; Rom. 5:15; 6:6; Col. 3:3). On this basis the penalty 
for all sin is paid. Scripture recognizes disciplinary pains, and 
discipline is the function of all evil. But men die? — Yes, but this evil 
is no exception. With God it is a matter of expediency in connection 
with the education of His creatures. Otherwise, can you, by the 
principle of justice alone, account for the fact that "by faith, Enoch 
was translated that he should not see death." Or for the rapture of 
the living when Messiah comes? Or for the fact that after the 
completion of the resurrection of the righteous, now within one 



*Eccl. 12: 7 does not say where God keeps those Old Testament spirits when they 
return" to Him. "Return to God" does not locate them. 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 125 

century, no other righteous man will die? Millennial millions are 
born; they do not die, but pass on through to the last and deathless 
eon. If any son of Adam died as a penalty, how, on the bare prin- 
ciple of righteous retribution, can these great numbers escape? If evil 
of any kind continues after the penalty is paid, it must be for spiritual 
discipline. Learn to look at these things from the viewpoint of Christ. 
He is the center of God's dealings, not man. 

Matt. 27 : 52, and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of 
the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out 
of the tombs after His resurrection they entered into the holy city 
and appeared to many. 

Eph. 4: 8, "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive." 
That this expression does not mean enemies, but friends in captivity, 
is seen from Jer. 31:23 and Judges 5 : 12, 21 ; the river Kishon 
"swept away the enemy" and the captives who were of Israel were 
led back home in triumph. The righteous dead from Abel to the 
crucified malefactor were in a state of captivity to Death. This de- 
liverance is hailed with the shout, "Where is thy victory, O Thana- 
tos?" These are in the charge of angels, in the second heaven; they 
return to earth. The blessings of the Millennial reign are to be 
theirs by covenant and promise. This is accepting what is written; 
it is not denying the unknown future. 

Sheol, Hades, names of a place, occur in the singular number only. 
The grave is the place where bodies are put. The location of Sheol 
is described in Ps. 63 : 9 ; 139 : 15 ; Isa. 44: 23 ; Ezek. 31 : 14, 16, 18 ; 
32: 18-24, "the heart of the earth." Jacob, Heman, Jonah, go down 
to Sheol, down to the fathers. 

W. G. T. Shedd strongly asserts that Sheol and Hades is the 
modern hell where the wicked suffer unending torment for sin. 
Dean Torrey says that Hades is not "hell," but that Gehenna, the 
lower compartment of Hades, is hell. Job says, "As the cloud is 
consumed and vanishes away, so he that goeth down to Sheol shall 
come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither 
shall his place know him any more." This refers to the old earth 
which flees before the Great White Throne. 

The definiteness of Sheol as a locality is demonstrated by the 
descent of Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their company, as they 
went down alive, body, soul, spirit ; when the crust of the earth opened 
for their passage. This is the antithesis of Elijah's whirlwind 



126 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

ascent. All these return to earth in accordance with the unconditional 
covenant. Lower Sheol is called "The Pit" (Ps. 30 : 3 ; Zech. 9 : 11). 

The state of death is temporary. Sheol's naked spirits differ and 
their conditions differ, but there is no penal fire there. Certain angels 
that sinned are imprisoned by the darkness of Tartarus. (II Peter 
2:4.) Demons are in the pit of the abyss (Rev. 9:2), the entrance 
closed. Weakness is mentioned in Isa. 14: 10; it is like drought and 
heat to sinners (Job 24: 19); there is no thankfulness (Ps. 6:3; 
Isa. 38:18); a place of silence, of stagnation, no news, no work, 
no device (Eccl. 9:10). It is cruel (Sol. 8:6); there is gloom, 
there is waiting. There may be a negative sort of comfort there. 
This is an Old Testament picture. The resurrection of Jesus Christ 
has changed this for all the righteous; they rose with Him.. Now 
none but the ungodly are there. They continue in ignorance and 
unbelief until they face the Great White Throne. In hopeless 
ignorance they await their doom, which to their minds is punishment, 
for they have no knowledge of the gospel to give them hope. Messiah 
did not forget the spirits in prison, He will not forget the ignorant 
godless in Sheol, nor the demons. But when change comes, it is God 
who initiates it. They had ears but they heard not; now that their 
ears are dust, their naked spirits must meet the naked truth. This 
experience, as has been stated, is not penalty for sin or sins. It is 
disciplinary, that the wearied spirit may be ready to listen to God. 
All this is not purgatorial, it does not make them "fit" nor even better. 
It is a gracious act of God that works for good when the heart listens. 
God says that His power for good is in Christ crucified, "Christ, the 
power of God and the wisdom of God" (I Cor. 1 : 24). No other 
name is given, no other agency will do the good work; certainly not 
pains and penalties, though they have such a large part to play in the 
providence of God. 

In this dispensation, of all others, how could the believer go 
astray on this? He was chosen in Christ before the wreck of the 
first cosmos (Eph. 1:4). "For we are His workmanship, created in 
Christ Jesus." This present dispensation began about the time of 
Acts 28. When a believer, a chosen member of the body of Christ, 
dies, or better, as Paul describes it, when this earthly house of our 
tenting is dissolved (II Cor. 5:1), when this bodily garment is thrown 
off, what shall cover the "naked" spirit? Not Hades. Its "own 
body" will come at the appointed resurrection time, but meanwhile 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 127 

what? — Well, if the body of the Gadarene demoniac could accom- 
modate five thousand unclean spirits, we may trust, as no other place 
is indicated, that the body of the Risen Lord will house all the spirits 
of the members of His heavenly "body" who may die. This is the 
suggestion of C. J. Baker, now testing the reality of his belief. There, 
in blessed consciousness, the spirit attains most perfect knowledge, 
to be manifested at the resurrection of the body (IT is sown, 
IT is raised). 

Advocates of Hell have abandoned "Hades" as its Scripture 
synonym, and fall back on "the Gehenna of the fire," and, as a last 
resort, on "The Lake of the Fire." This is rightly the "Divine" 
fire, not "brimstone." 

"Gehenna" is revealed in the New Testament in connection wfth 
the kingdom ; the king on his Millennial throne administering Divine 
justice. The "life," to gain which is worth the loss of hand, or eye, 
is life in the eon to come when Messiah reigns. As some pass through 
the antichristian persecution, they may thus literally enter that eon 
maimed. The Gehenna of the fire will burn unquenched one thou- 
sand years. As some of these passages have the definite article, they 
are thus connected with the well-known valley of the Old Testament. 
Jeremiah prophesies of this valley thus : "And they have built the high 
places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to 
burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded 
not, nor came it into My heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, 
saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the 
Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they 
shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury, and the corpses 
of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the 
beast of the earth, and none shall frighten them away." "At that 
time, saith Jehovah, they shall bring out the bones of the Kings of 
Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the prophets, 
and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves; 
and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the 
host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, 
and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and 
which they have worshipped ; they shall not be gathered, nor be 
buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth" (Jer. 7: 
31-38; 8: 1,2). "The time of their visitation" (Jer. 8: 12). "All 
flesh shall come to worship before me, saith Jehovah, and they shall 
9 



128 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have trans- 
gressed against Me ; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire 
be quenched and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh" (Isa. 66: 24). 
Here is what our Lord called to the memory of the Jews that He 
addressed from the Mount. This is no indefinite modern hell that 
cannot be located. John saw this, "And I saw an angel standing in 
the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that 
fly in mid-heaven, Come, be gathered together unto the great supper 
of God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, 
and the flesh of mighty men; and the flesh of horses, and of them 
that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both 
small and great" (Rev. 19: 17, 18). Again, here is Gehenna, but 
one thousand years is its limit. It begins, if human chronology is 
not very much in error, within one hundred years. This is no "bar 
of God," with all men's sins up for the judge, at some unscriptural 
"general judgment" in the far distant future, with endless vengeance 
against sin and sinners. It is at the coming of the Son of Man, as 
described in Matt. 25: 31, 46, that this crisis occurs, ushering in the 
Kingdom of Heaven. "Of course," if you call a "church" a "king- 
dom," you will find this hard to place; but make a try; it is good that 
your spiritual senses be exercised, that you may grow in knowledge. 

"The Lake of the fire, the Divine" (Rev. 20: 10; so also 19: 20 
and 21 : 8, — not "brimstone"). The definite article here bids us look 
back to see where the Lake is defined. It is something known to 
those addressed, the Jewish churches of the end time. 

"The fire of Jehovah" (I Kings 18: 38; Num. 11 : 33; II Kings 
1: 12). Ex.24: 16, "And the Glory of Jehovah rested on the Hill 
of Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days, and the glory of Jehovah 
appeared like a consuming fire on the head of the mountain to the 
eyes of the children of Israel!" But! Moses went up into that fire, 
and when he came down there was a reflection of Glory on his face. 
Why be so crass as to imagine that the Lake of the Divine Fire is of 
the same nature as Nebuchadnezzar's furnace ? ( See also Ex. 40 : 
34-38; Lev. 8:33, 36; 9:6; 10:2.) Jehovah's glory accepting the 
tabernacle, and lighting the fire upon the altar. The scene is repeated 
in Solomon's temple. (II Chron. 7: 1-3; 5: 14; I Kings 8: 11.) 

See further Num. 14: 10, 21, 22; 16: 19, 20, 42. This Divine 
Glory-fire produced physical results, both in destruction and blessing 
(Ps. 102: 15, 16). See Ezekiel's vision (Ezek. 1 : 28; 2:12, 23; 8: 4; 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 129 

9:3; 10:4, etc.). In 10: 18, the glory departing; in 43:2; 44:4, 
the glory returning. Now note this, when this glory returns, what 
is it but the very same "epiphany of His parousia" by which the 
Lord Jesus will bring to naught the Lawless One? (II Thess. 2:8.) 
And if you want to know how this glory appears to the antichristian 
hosts, read the account of this very same scene as it is described 
in Rev. 19: 19-21, "they two were cast alive into the lake of the 
Divine Fire." 

There is much more of this to be found in the Bible. Read 
Lev. 10: 1-6. Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, priests at the dedica- 
tion of the tabernacle, took too much wine; they took sacred incense 
to offer before Jehovah, but instead of taking the Divinely kindled 
coals from the altar, they sprinkled it upon "strange fire;" strange 
to the Divine Sanctuary, but ordinary to the people outside! "There 
came forth fire from before Jehovah and devoured them, and they 
died before Jehovah." Then two of their kindred drew near, "and 
carried them in their coats out of the camp." The fire of Jehovah 
accomplishes exactly the will of Jehovah, and no more. The very 
coats of the offenders retained strength enough to sustain their corpses. 
Now ask yourself if the hell-fire and brimstone of Christendom is not 
strange fire for our God to use when for six thousand years He has 
used Divine fire? Yes! Well may Israel say, "Our God is a con- 
suming fire," but we may ask, Just what will this Fire consume and 
what will pass through it purified? 

"The idea of a material miraculous fire, meant to keep men alive, 
in pain, without destroying them is a human fiction." — F. W . Farrar. 

He will burn up the chaff, the tares, the severed branch ; He will 
cast the bad fish away; He will cut asunder the faithless servant. 
All these are preliminary to the Millennial reign. The individuals 
so described will go into the discipline of eonian fire (Divine fire) 
for a thousand years. Their resurrection, and establishment, as re- 
deemed and regenerated children of God for the New Creation will 
be a part of the concluding works of the Son of God in the post- 
millennial eon, through such educational agencies as He may choose. 
They, too, as surely as the first-born, shall be "taught of God," and 
taught through the first-born. 

Matt. 10: 28, but fear Him, who has power to destroy both soul 
and body in (a) Gehenna. The passage, Matt. 5 : 21, 26, refers to 
legal penalties for three degrees of murder according to the practice 



130 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

of Jewish courts. The most severe sentence of the Sanhedrin added 
to the death penalty, denial of burial, and degradation of the body 
by casting it into Gehenna to be consumed by birds, worms, or fire. 
There is One, if He so wills it, who has power to ordain (a) Gehenna 
for the soul. The definite article being absent, the word is used here 
symbolically. 

Read Num. 12 : 5-8, "And Jehovah came down in a pillar of cloud, 
and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam, and 
they both came forth. And he said, Hear now My words: If there 
be a prophet among you, I, Jehovah, will make Myself known to him 
in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. My servant, Moses, is 
not so; he is faithful in all My house: with him will I speak mouth 
to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches, and the form 
of Jehovah shall he behold; wherefore then were ye not afraid to 
speak against My servant Moses?" One of the lessons of this incident 
may be this: Some prophets are so full of their own ideas that they 
must be asleep before God can get a proper hearing. If body and 
soul should both be out of commission, the Supreme Spirit can speak 
to spirit with no distracting element to hinder. This may be the 
reason why death is allowed to leave the great number of spirits naked 
before God. The cares of this life have to be removed. In Thanatos 
the spirit can listen to God undisturbed. This is far from the plane 
of Moses's fellowship, and far below that of those who, not having 
seen, yet believe; but it is better than nothing. 

Matt. 23: 15, Gehenna is anarthrous; "child of Gehenna" is after 
the form of expression, children of the wicked one. It cannot refer 
to a future hell. 

Matt. 23 : 33 has the article. The Gehenna condemnation was the 
third decree mentioned in Matt. 5 : 21, on which passage Farrar says, 
"Our Lord is speaking of three degrees of sinful anger, and telling his 
hearers that it had been a law for their fathers that a murderer was 
liable to 'the judgment,' i. e., the decision of the local court (Deut. 
16: 18). He came to give a more searching law (for his kingdom), 
which would trace to its very source, in evil thought and words, the 
guilt of murder. In His law, whoever is angry with his brother is 
as guilty as if he thereby came under the cognizance of the Beth Din 
with its sentence of death by the sword (Jos. Ant., IV, 8: 14) ; if he 
lets his anger burst forth in the contumelious word 'Worthless' 
(Jas. 2:20, O, vain man), he is as guilty as if he came under the 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 131 

cognizance of the Sanhedrin, or Supreme Court of Jerusalem; if his 
rage is so ungovernable that he uses the furious taunt 'rebel' (Deut. 
21 : 18-20) [the word which brought Moses and Aaron to grief 
(Num. 20: 10) ], he morally deserves the severest form of Jewish sen- 
tence, that which ordered his body to be burned and then flung forth to 
be consumed in the Burning Valley (Lev. 20: 14). (This flinging 
forth rests on tradition.) Thus, as Bengel says, the general meaning 
is that by these forms of anger a man practically makes himself a 
homicide in the first, second or third degree. What possible con- 
nection has this with endless torment, the introduction of which 
renders the whole passage unintelligible?" 

But here is the way another writes of this passage: "The uni- 
versal use in the New Testament of 'Gehenna' or 'Hell' is literal. 
Eleven times it is used by our Lord Jesus himself, and he uniformly 
uses it in these passages (Matt. 5 : 22, 29, 30; Mark 9: 45, 48) of a 
literal hell. He certainly meant to convey the impression that there 
was a literal hell. If there is no literal hell, then either Jesus 
thought there was one when there was not, in which case He was a 
fool, or else He knew that there was not, but tried to make men think 
that there was, in which case He was a fraud." (Copyright, 191 8, by 
R. A. Torrey, Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.) Farrar 
hates to "soil his pages" by quoting the infamous language of Bishop 
Tertullian, of the second century, but he prints it in Latin, so that 
it will hurt nobody but theologians. Robert Anderson says, "Some, 
indeed, have used language which betokens pleasure at the thought of 
endless torment; but apart from the enthusiasm or the bitterness 
of controversy, this would be impossible. Surely there is no one 
unwilling to be convinced that hell itself shall share at last in the 
reconciliation that God has wrought." 

"I wish," writes Dean Torrey, "that the things that I am going 
to preach tonight were not true. God wishes so, too. The bodies of 
the lost are to have a place in a literal physical hell of fire; — their 
mental agony, the agony of remorse, the agony of shame, and the 
agony of despair, is immeasurably worse; nevertheless, a physical 
suffering to which no pain on earth is anything in comparison, is a 
feature of hell." (A. D. 19 18.) 

Dr. J. W. Haley: "We cannot doubt that the Divine condemna- 
tion will weigh down the guilty soul as with mountains of lead; 
that God's displeasure will blast and scathe the polluted spirit as with 



132 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

the breath of a furnace. The burning eye of Jehovah will forever 
rest with judicial punitive power upon the perturbed and desolate 
spirit — till the very air he breathed, seemed to his sense one universal 
flame of wrath, the wrath to come." 

Here is Farrar's summing up on "Gehenna:" "Seeing that we 
naturally turn to Jews and to Jewish writings of acknowledged 
authority to explain their own technical terms; and seeing that no 
writings are more authoritative with the Jews than the Mishna and 
Gemara, and no Rabbis are so highly esteemed as Rabbis Akiba and 
Maimonides and Abarbanel ; and seeing that all the ancient authorities 
are at one with the highest living authorities among the Rabbis in 
saying that, in the view of their church, Gehenna does not now mean, 
and has never meant, a doom to necessarily endless torment ; and seeing 
that our Blessed Lord always used technical Jewish words in their 
technical Jewish sense, — unless he avowedly gave them a different 
meaning, — I should have thought that my point was amply proved. 
Namely, that Jesus did not hold: (i) The finality of doom passed 
at death (by which I mean the finality of condition into which the 
soul may pass at death). (2) The doctrine of torment, endless if 
once incurred. The Jews to whom our Lord spoke never understood 
Gehenna to mean what modern writers mean by hell." 

II Peter 2: 4, "the sinning angels, — remitted (paredoken) for 
future judgment, incarcerating them in chains of darkness." 
Tartarosas is verbal, but it has been rendered as a noun in the English. 
As this is in Hades, and as it is used here only, and here of angels, 
and these to await a future judgment, it is inexcusable to render it 
by the English "hell." It has no relation to sempiternity. 

Phil. 2: 10, "Underworld," here only, but see Sheol from beneath. 
(Isa. 14: 9.) 

"Grave" is the uniform rendering of the Hebrew, keh-ver. 

"Topheth" was the place in Gehenna where idolatrous altars 
existed. 

"Abaddon," Hebrew, and "Apollyon," Greek, is in English De- 
stroyer, or Destruction. 

"The Abyss" is, literally, the Bottomless, the depths of Hades. 

"Sheol" and "Hades" are the same, the Underworld. 

"Pit" is a general term, but "the Pit" is in lower Sheol. 

"Thanatos" is the state of death; it is personified in Revelation. 

"Nekros" is the word applied to dead persons. 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 133 

"Gehenna" occurs in Matt. 5 : 22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23: 15, 
33 ; Mark 9 : 43, 45, 47 ; Luke 12:5; Jas. 3:6. In these 12 places it is 
rendered in English, "Hell." The 1901 revision has in every case in 
the margin, "Greek, Gehenna." Gehenna should therefore be in the 
text, not margin. "Gehenna" is found in Old Testament, Josh. 15:8; 
18: 16; II Chron. 28: 3; II Kings 23 : 10; Jer. 7:31, 32,33; Isa. 66: 
24; 30:38; Jer. 19:1-13. Hinnom means gracious, or abundant, 
"Topheth" means spitting, a thing abhorred, a place of burning. 
Prophecy gives it a place at the coming of Messiah to reign. 

"Torment" inflicted occurs as follows: 

Matt. 8 : 29, The demons ask, art thou come hither to torment us 
before the time ? ( Mark 5:7; 8:28.) 

Rev. 9:5, The demoniac locusts torment men five months. 

Rev. 11 : 10, The two witnesses, prophets, tormented the dwellers 
in the land. 

Rev. 14: 10, 11, the smoke of their torment goes up for the two 
coming eons; the Divine Fire is the tormenting element; and this is 
said of those who have put upon their bodies the brand of the 
Antichristian Beast, and of these only, and this is not in hell, but 
before the angels. 

Rev. 20: 10, At the end of the Millennium, the devil is cast into 
the Lake of the Divine Fire, where the Beast and the False Prophet 
are, and with them is tormented day and night to the end of the eons. 

Rev. 18: 7, 10, 15, this is the "torment" of Babylon, in covenant 
with Antichrist, and so of the same company as the branded ones 
of Rev. 14: 10. 

1. The tormenting element is the unveiled glory and holiness of 
Christ Jesus, and nothing else ! Theologians, profound and otherwise, 
have taxed imagination and genius, and have exhausted language in 
describing and exaggerating the agonies and endlessness of torment. 
These descriptions may give a passing oratorical thrill, but they are 
so grotesque they make little serious impression. They remind one of 
the penalty for adding to the Apocalypse. It is well for those who 
utter them that they belong to this dispensation, or their names would 
be blotted out of the Book of the Life. 

2. The victims are limited to the Devil, the Beast, the False 
Prophet, and the branded dupes of the seven tribulation years. The 
scribes of Christendom are wise above what is written as they thrill 
over the great multitude of victims, including babes. 



134 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

3. The time of this torment ends with the eons. Contrast the 
elaborate descriptions of everlastingness. 

4. The Scriptures simply use one word "torment;" there is no 
clue to the intensity of it. As it is the Divine Fire, and as it is entirely 
in the control of Christ Jesus, it will certainly effect His purpose. 
Contrast unscriptural exaggerations. 

5. The word is applied to birth pangs in Rev. 12: 2, to the waves 
that tormented the disciples' boat (Matt. 14: 24) ; to the torment of 
rowing the boat (Mark 6: 48) ; to Lot's "torment" when he viewed 
the wickedness of Sodom (II Peter 2:8). 

These Jews, taught the Old Testament from childhood, knew 
that entrance into that kingdom was a covenant reward for the 
righteous, and they knew that the wrath was threatened by the law 
for apostasy. Their prophets spoke of this day of wrath as preceding 
the kingdom. They knew from Micah that Bethlehem was Messiah's 
birthplace; from Daniel that the time was near; from Malachi, that 
Elijah would be sent before the great and terrible day of the Lord 
arrives, and they asked John if he were Elijah. 

6. Jehovah was party of the first part and the chosen people was 
party of the second part in a covenant. According to prophecy the 
"many" were to apostatize and enter into a seven-year covenant with 
Anti-Messiah. This impious act would be the cause of Jehovah's 
wrath, and they were to be dealt with. When the future was unveiled 
to John he saw the great day of this wrath, and wrote an authentic 
description of it. He saw the seven angels pour out the seven golden 
vials by which the wrath of God is completed (Rev. 15: 1). It is to 
last just three years and a half. During this time the Mercy-Seat is 
inaccessible, but if anyone is martyred for his faith, or endures 
through it, he enters the Messianic kingdom. This is called the 
Kingdom of Heaven from Dan. 2 : 44. 

Scripture does not depict any further display of wrath on God's 
part. In this comparatively brief day of wrath there is completed 
what is called Jehovah's "strange" work. In the "Little Apocalypse," 
Jehovah calls the antichristian covenant of the tribulation a refuge 
of lies, an agreement with Death, and a covenant with Sheol, and 
says He will abolish it. (Isa. 28: 17-19.) In the following verses 
(20-22) He threatens this "strange" work. This can hardly be other 
than "the day of wrath !" We sometimes hear believers using the very 
uncomplimentary, and in reality carnal remark, "How strange that 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 135 

God should love me!" Is it such a rare thing for God to manifest 
His very nature? Why not believe rather and confess that God is 
love, and that this day of wrath is strange, though expedient. Why 
limit Divine Love? And why strain imagination to depict a God of 
endless and futile wrath? Some have a zeal for justice that fails to 
see the grace of God's great act, justice once for all vindicated, and 
then evangelized as a gift. They go about proclaiming hell-fire as 
the only remedy for injustice. Verily, the "snare of the devil" is 
made of the meshes of the law. (II Tim. 2 : 26 ; II Cor. 4:3,4, "by 
which," not "in whom," and "done away" of the third chapter, not 
"lost." 

Rom. 2:5, Wrath in (a) day of wrath (no article). 

Rom. 5 : 9, Saved us from the wrath; the article indicates the 
definite tribulation period. 

I Thess. 1:10, The Thessalonian hope was the Millennial glory, 
and they were promised deliverance "from the coming wrath" which 
precedes the reign of Christ. The two articles confirm this. 

Rev. 6: 16, 17, "The great day of the wrath of Them is come." 
This is under the sixth seal; how can it be used of any final great 
assize and the execution of its sentence? 

Rev. 11 : 18, At the seventh trumpet which signals for the seven 
vials of wrath, we see: "The Kingdom is the Lord's and He shall 
reign for the eons of the eons," the two coming eons. This cannot 
refer to any final judgment. "The nations were wroth;" the Devil is 
there in great fury; "Thy wrath is come;" "the wrath of the Lord 
God Almighty." This is the definite forty-two months of wrath. 

Rev. 14: 9-1 1, Here it is those who bear Antichrist's brand, who 
are "drinking of the wine of God's fury, which has been blended 
undiluted in the cup of His wrath." 

Rev. 16: 19, Babylon drinks this cup, at the same time. 

Rev. 19: 15, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is the One 
who is "treading out this winepress of the fury of the wrath of God." 
Twelve hundred and sixty days is the time limit of the winepress. It is 
the "vintage of the earth" at the end of this present evil eon. 

It is irreverent or ignorant perversion to use any of these passages 
to confirm the imputation of sempiternal wrath to God and the Lamb. 
True, IF they can establish endless unrighteousness, then they can 
deduce God's endless, wrath against it. BUT ! Daniel says this makes 
an end of sin, this brings in eonian righteousness to Israel. 



I36 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

"The anointed cherub that covereth," the Adversary, Abaddon, 
Apollyon, the Devil, Satan, the Dragon, the Serpent, the Sea-monster, 
the Prince of the power of the air, the God of this cosmos, the 
Tempter, the Liar, the Murderer, incarnate in Antichrist, chained a 
thousand years, loosed to gather the Millennial ungodly ones, and 
then cast into the Lake of the Fire for the last eon. Shall he be saved ? 

"You perfect seal! full of science and spotless in beauty 
You once were in Eden, the Garden of God! 
Every stone that was precious was fastened upon you, 
Ruby, topaz, and diamond; the beryl and onyx; 
Sapphire, emerald, and opal; in chasings of gold, 
They were made, and set on you the day you were created. 
And you were the Cherub, the holy protector, 
And sat on the hill that was sacred to God; 
You walked in the midst of the bright flashing jewels, 
You were right in your path from your creation! 
Until in yourself the corruption was formed; 
Till your trades filled your breast with extortion and wrong ! 
So I flung you out from the Mountain of Godhood, 
And sent your guardian spirit from among the bright gems! 
From your beauty your heart rose ; your science corrupted ; 
Notwithstanding your splendor I flung you to earth ; 
And before kings cast you, to show what you are! 

"Your great passion for trade deeply wounded your virtue, 
So I bring fire from you, consuming yourself! 
And on earth lay your ashes in sight of onlookers; 
All nations who knew you will shudder above you ! 
You have been a terror, but shall cease for the eon!" 

— Ezek. 28: 12-19. (See Isa. 14: 12-20.) 

The genius of multitudes of the most intelligent minds in Pagan- 
ism and Christendom has enlarged upon tortures, and painted the 
continual increase of pangs of body, of soul, of spirit, of conscience, 
shame, memory, passions. Are not most of the following honored 
names on earth? Yet they are guilty. Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, 
Augustine, Dante, Thomas Aquinas, Haley, Holland, Tayler Lewis, 
Meyer, Lange, Mueller, Cook, Byron, Tennyson, Cowles, Shakes- 
peare, Martineau, Dorner, Emmons, Hudson, McCosh, Murphy, 
Trench, Porter, Paley, Bacon, Butler, Alger, Hamilton, Richter, 
Hodge, Barnes, Pusey, Anderson, Gray, Torrey, etc., etc. How 
strange this unanimity of pagan and Christian! It should give us 
Pause. Selah! stop and think. 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 137 

"A final permanence is attained but once" (Cook, quoted by 
Haley), O profound philosophers! 

Haley sums up these sempiternal penalty points: 

i. The wicked have themselves alone to blame. 

2. They have unending self-loathing and shame. 

3. They have remorse of conscience. 

4. They are withdrawn from all good influences. 

5. They are conscious of the self -perpetuating tendency of 

sinful character. 

6. They are hopeless. 

7. All their unholy passions ceaselessly rage. 

8. They must endure the horrible society of each other. 

9. They suffer a sense of Jehovah's displeasure. 

[10. Shall we not add, they have lost that super-godlike thing, 
free-will, lost by its own act.] 

These are some of the ingredients of woe, "ever increasing." It is 
possible that the senselessness of such a statement never strikes them. 
Their antecedent literalists would poke up literal fire with glee, and 
scarify with red-hot irons, but these see a never-dying soul that cannot 
be ground to powder. 

Here is another gustatory morsel of speculative imagination from 
Dr. Haley: "This is an entirely reasonable view of the case;" this 
future endless suffering is the "legitimate fruit of sin !" "Were there 
no God, and provided that the laws of matter and mind remained the 
same as now, the sinner would, we have no doubt, suffer precisely as 
under the present arrangement, with the single exception that in that 
case the displeasure of God would of course be wanting." Here's 
richness! Exactly so, the thing is philosophically established apart 
from God; with no Christ, no Gospel, no resurrection, for, that the 
soul apart from the body is immortal, is an integral part of the 
proposition. 

What is the condition between death and resurrection ? The body 
is but the tent, the clothes that cover the spirit lest it be naked 
(II Cor. 5), but the germ of life is always gathering to itself lifeless 
matter and transforming it for its own particular being; "every seed 
its own body" (I Corinthians 15). In death this earthly body is dis- 
solved, as the body of a seed dissolves, while the living principle 
asserts its nature and draws to itself another body. This is analogous 
to the waste and growth of the body during this lifetime. Now is 
this living principle an Adam principle, "a living soul," or a living 



I38 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Christ principle, "a quickening spirit?" Adam and his race have not 
that quickening resurrection spirit. Death apart from Christ is the 
end of Adam. The old nature of the believer has no resurrection. 
A child of resurrection is a child of God. (Luke 20: 36.) Con^ 
sciousness of spirit in death is not the consciousness of the natural 
spirit, but the consciousness of that spirit under the Headship of the 
First-born from the dead; He is the "Lord both of the dead and the 
living." We may infer that the believers of this Heavenly dispensa- 
tion, when their spirits are "unclothed" at death, will not be left 
naked. Surely the resurrection body of Christ can find a blessed place 
for those of this Heavenly dispensation, and that in consciousness. 
As to the unbelievers of this dispensation, there seems to be no other 
place to hide but in Hades. That at death "the spirit returns" to 
God, does not involve that it goes to Heaven. You might return 
money to me, but I can put it in the bank. In all these Bible refer- 
ences the spirit is an entity, a continuous entity, after the analogy of 
the caterpillar and the butterfly, its existence continuous only in 
Christ, and because of His identification with humanity, His redeem- 
ing death, and the resurrection power of life. The Son of God 
"quickens whomever He pleases." (John 5: 21.) 

There is an intermediate state of some kind for some between 
death and resurrection. Old Testament saints died from Adam to 
Malachi and they were raised when their Lord was. (Matt. 27 : 52.) 
Abel had been dead four thousand years and the malefactor three days, 
in Thanatos and Hades. So Abraham, David, Daniel, Moses, were 
released from the captivity of death. Enoch is not to see death. 
Elijah's death is postponed to the end of the eon; John also will tarry 
till the same time, when they as the two witnesses of Revelation 1 1 
will be killed. Four in Old Testament times and four in New 
Testament times before the cross. Dorcas and Eutychus in the 
Pentecostal generation. The members of the Heavenly Body are 
raised at the end of this dispensation (now imminent). The pre- 
millennial earthly saints dead and living are "caught up" to escape 
the Tribulation. Elijah and John, after three and a half days of 
death, their bodies lying in the streets, are then called up to their 
own company. The Tribulation martyrs are raised at the coming 
of the Messiah. THIS completes the first resurrection! After this 
no righteous person dies. Again the question recurs, Why do they 
die now? The clew to the answer is in this, "No man dieth unto 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 139 

himself." Individuals must not interfere with the unity of the Race 
nor with the Lord's dealing with others. If no righteous person 
died now, it would complicate the testimony which is proper to the 
present dispensation, while this complication will be removed when 
Messiah is present in person, and dealing with His covenant people. 

In the first resurrection is that company of the righteous who are 
called the eonian "life resurrection." The unjust, after one thousand 
years' eonian discipline, stand with all others before the Great White 
Throne, and upon their first knowledge of the real character of the 
Sent One, they see and believe like Saul of Tarsus, and partake of 
what is called in John 5 the "judgment resurrection;" that is, the 
resurrection of those who have suffered the Millennial judgment. 

At the end of the thousand years of Israel's ministry in union with 
Messiah their King, all rebellious ones will be removed and all living 
humanity will "know the Lord." The dead will then stand before 
the Great White Throne, on which the Son of God sits and unveils 
His Glory, which is more of a consuming fire than it was at Mount 
Sinai. The dead see and know and believe and enter into resurrection 
life, which event declares them to be sons of God (Luke 20: 30). 

(See Diagram III, showing the sequence of the above events.) 

In addition to the above, — Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their 
company go down to Hades alive. At the end of this present eon, 
the Beast and the False Prophet are cast alive into the consuming 
fire of Messiah's glory. The belief in common fire is the belief that 
Nadab and Abihu had. The Divine Fire is the Divine glory, veiled 
or unveiled, according to the purpose for which it was required. 
The fire of Hell, as usually considered, is a strange fire, which God 
does not use for acceptance at the altars of sacrifice or incense. 
Ex. 24: 16, At Sinai the cloud veiled the glory in mercy to the carnal 
people, but Moses went up into that glory and came out shining; 
he was not "consumed." It is this Divine glory-fire at the Great 
White Throne. The heavens were not pure in His sight ; the upper 
heavens are purged when Satan is cast out in the middle of the Tribu- 
lation, the first heaven will flee away before the face of the Enthroned 
One, the earth also; when a new heavens and earth of a new cosmos, 
holy and approved in all respects, takes its place; permanent in the 
Headship of the Son of God, and as the dwelling-place of God. 
Righteousness reigned in the fourth eon ; now it dwells. The Under- 
world was unclean during the fourth eon; now all are holy in the 



I4O CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

worship of the Savior God. The righteousness which is of the law 
might rest with the evidence of the fourth eon ; that penalty was paid. 
But the righteousness of God has a higher standard, based on the 
results of the death, burial and resurrection of the responsible Head 
of the Universe. Jehovah does not shirk His responsibility. He has 
said, "I am thy God." He has sworn to it. He never has denied it. 
He always has affirmed it. He will never go back on it. 

"He descended into hell" is the language of the creed, but the 
Scriptures appealed to should not be neglected. I Peter 3 : 18, 20, 
"preached to the spirits in prison, who — ;" I Peter 4: 6, "the gospel 
was preached to dead — ;" Eph. 4:9, "descended first into the lower 
parts of the earth — that He-might-fill the universe." Joshua and 
Israel were to possess the land wherever the soles of their feet should 
tread. Christ ascended far above all the heavens ; He takes possession 
of the "prison" in the lower parts of the earth. He possesses the 
Universe as Head. "Free-will" is not the sovereign God of the 
Underworld, intrenched against El Shaddai. 

Dean Plumptre, "We repeat these words of the creed, but they 
do not move us. They bring no strength or comfort to us." Calvin 
actually held that the torments of the lost were suffered by Christ 
in addition to the cross to make the work complete. 

Plumptre, This "descent" of Christ has impressed many minds. 
To many it spoke of victory over death. He entered the Underworld 
— "as a mighty King, the herald of His own conquests; the bands of 
the prisoners were broken ; the gates of the prison house were thrown 
open. There had He gathered round Him the souls of His righteous 
ones — ; there He delivered from the passionate yearning of expec- 
tancy — . Such ideas enlarged were the creed of Christendom for 
some fifteen centuries; it mingled itself with strange and fantastic 
imaginings, was embodied in legends, false gospels, poems, dramas, 
hymns. It suggested a wider hope than their dogmatic systems seemed 
to render possible." 

Keble, in "Christian Year," had referred to Jesus sleeping, a silent 
corpse; he asks (Easter Eve), — 

"Sleep'st Thou indeed, or is Thy spirit fled, 
At large among the dead? 
Whether in Eden-bowers, Thy welcome voice 
Wake Abraham to rejoice; 
Or in some drearier scene Thine eye controls 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. I4I 

"The thronging band of souls ; 
That as Thy death won earth, Thine agony 
Might set the shadowy world from sin and sorrow free." 

"Hell" was not used to scare people in the Old Testament. The 
law and its death penalty made the "fear of death" the "power of 
the Devil" (Heb. 2: 14). The wicked feared Death and Hades, but 
the righteous had hope in his death ; the hope of resurrection in Christ 
to eonian life. The wicked of the Old Testament were ignorant 
unbelievers in this; their conscience and all their natural religious 
ideas condemned them. In Adam all die; in Adam there is no 
resurrection, though Natural Religion hoped and argued and taught 
that there was. In Christ, and in Him alone shall all be made alive; 
the righteous in a first resurrection to enjoy eonian life, and the un- 
righteous after the eonian kolasisj shall be dealt with by the full power 
and glory of the Son of God, who gives life to whom He will. 
Without excommunicating those who differ with Him in this par- 
ticular, the present writer teaches that the Son of God deals with 
the naked spirits of the dead in the last eon as he dealt with Saul of 
Tarsus, and that every last one before the Great White Throne 
will there see a "face" that tells them something they never knew 
before, and that "something" will be what the little children saw, — 
that is "love." One look was enough for the representative chief of 
sinners, and one look will convince every looker, and all will look 
sooner or later. This is confirmed by Luke 20 136, where it is 
intimated that a child of resurrection is a child of God; and by 
Rom. 1 : 4, which says that it was resurrection that declares Christ 
Jesus to be the Son of God. Without arguing the point here, I repeat 
that what may not be true in Adam concerning consciousness of spirit 
apart from body, may be true in Christ by His resurrection power and 
by "the good pleasure of His will." 

In the Englewood district of Chicago some children were playing 
Sunday-school, when heaven and hell were mentioned. One little 
girl said, "O, I know about hell; the Sisters at our school opened a 
door and showed the hell fire and told us that was where we would 
go if we didn't behave." At another place, a six-year-old, at Sunday- 
school for the first time, was heard to whisper to the older girl who 
brought her, "If I get sick, and don't go to Sunday-school, will I go 
to hell?" With such schooling, how can they learn that God is love? 

Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff visited Formosa and describes the 



142 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

head-hunters there. Kim Soan was taken from them when a boy, 
with the idea of sending him back to improve these savages. He re- 
fused to go back, but circumstances were too much for him and he 
afterward spent eight years with them, — when he returned to civiliza- 
tion. A former acquaintance asked him how many heads he had 
cut off. He swore by the Heavens above and the earth below that 
he had never taken human life. "But you have the tribal tattoo. 
You must at least have taken one head." But he explained how he 
had escaped the necessity. He was asked, "But why do your people 
hunt heads? Is it true that a man must procure a head before he 
can claim a bride?" "No, it's this way; all my people believe that 
when we die we all must walk up the rainbow to the Land-of-After- 
Death. At the end of the rainbow the gateman stands, and when we 
come he will say to us, 'Show me your hands.' And he will look at 
our hand and if he finds it clean from blood, he will say, 'Go to the 
right,' and he will kick us into the dark nothingness below; but if be 
looks at our hand and finds it stained, he will say, 'You may enter,' 
and he will allow us to pass within." Each village has its open-air 
skull museum; skulls ornament houses. There are head-hunters also 
in the Philippines. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Judicial 
punishment is the fruit of law. The reconciliation of the Universe is 
the fruit of the gospel. Advocates of "Eternal Hope," "The wider 
hope," and mitigations, even "The bright side of hell," have weakly 
argued for mercy, admitting that the doctrine of retribution requires 
punishment other than that demanded by Scripture. The advocates 
of endless punishment have exhibited some dead sea fruit in their 
temper and language. The charge against advocates of reconciliation 
is sentimentality, looseness of doctrine, worldliness, etc. Look into this ! 
Examine the temper and language of one who advocates the preaching 
of God's character as truth, and see if its fruit is bitter. At any rate, 
to hold the truth in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit will produce 
"love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance." "By these fruits you shall know them," that is the pos- 
sessor's. As to professors only, they are barren. 

Is it the fear of hell that peoples Heaven, that is the wisdom of 
God and the power of God unto Salvation? Heaven is peopled only 
by those who were chosen in Christ before the pre-adamite wreck of 
the first cosmos. The new earth is peopled by those blessed under the 
Abrahamic Covenant. 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 1 43 

At the Passover the Samaritans, after prayer, which is ended with 
a loud Amen!, rise and remain perfectly erect, while in silence they 
repeat another prayer, called "Akid el Niyeh, a meditation which de- 
notes the consecration of their souls to prayer. It consists of repeating 
the five articles of their creed — belief in God, in Moses, the Penta- 
teuch, Mt. Gerizim, and the Day of Judgment." 

Professor Shedd argues that Sheol must be Hell because the 
wicked are threatened with it, not the righteous. He refers to Job 
21 : 13 ; Ps. 9: 17; Prov. 5: 5; 9: 18; 23 114; Deut. 32:22; Ps. 139:8; 
Prov. 1 5 : 24 ; Job 26 : 6 ; Prov. 1 5 : 1 1 ; 27 : 20. "If the good also went 
to Sheol, its power to terrify is gone. There is no distinction such as 
Paradise and Gehenna ; the wicked are threatened with the whole of 
Sheol." We might argue as above from "the soul that sinneth it shall 
die" that sinners only die; or, if Johnnie is punished by being sent to 
bed, that good boys do not go to bed. But Jacob said, I will go down 
to Sheol, Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 44:29-31. Job says, O that Thou 
wouldst hide me in Sheol. Christ descended into Sheol (Ps. 16: 10; 
Acts 2:27). Heman says, My life draweth nigh to Sheol (Ps. 
88:3); Hezekiah, I shall go to the gates of Sheol; Isa. 38:10; 
Jonah cried out of Sheol. (Jonah 2: 2.) 

Note the attitude shown in the following, "If Sheol is not the 
place where the wrath of God falls upon the transgressor, there is no 
place mentioned in the Old Testament where it does." And the the- 
ologian would like to know the reason why. 

To Peter were committed the keys of the Messianic kingdom; 
Jesus says, I have the keys of Death and Hades. This is He that 
has the Key of David, He that openeth and none shall shut, and that 
shutteth and none openeth. The deceived and deceiver are His. 

Grace reigns now, superabundant above all sin, and all its con- 
sequences. "Gather up the fragments, even, that nothing be lost." 
"Looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave," and 
shall any "fragment" fail a blessed purpose? And will there be 
an everlasting swill barrel where Beelzebub, god of filth, holds sway? 
No such thing could endure the unveiled glory from which no dirty 
corner can be hid in all the New creation. If there is a Hell, it will 
have to be a new hell, for there is One Universe and nothing exists 
apart from it but absolute Godhood. 

Robert Anderson criticizes Cox's Salvator Mundi as follows: 
"Cox then examines the word 'damnation' as an English word, 
10 



144 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

tracing it back to 'deem,' as when a man is deemed guilty, and to 
'doom,' as when he is doomed to punishment; thus a man might be 
damned to prison, deemed worthy of it, and doomed to it. So the 
English 'hell' is from the old word which means to cover, and in early 
English literature it was used of any obscure dungeon or covered spot, 
even a dark hole into which a tailor threw his waste. Both these words 
were innocent then, before the Bible had been translated into English, 
three centuries ago, but theologians have put the meanings in them 
which make 'damned to hell' an 'endless torment'.'" This may be ex- 
cused to some extent in one who must get his idea from King James' 
Version, but inexcusable in anyone who has a knowledge of the Greek 
New Testament when he uses them as equivalent to any word there 
— Cox then gives the Greek. 

"Krinein" — in common use — means "to part, to separate, to 
discriminate between good and bad," in short, "to judge." From this 
verb two nouns are formed: KRISISj the act of judging; KRIMA, 
the sentence. From the verb another verb has been formed, KATA- 
KRINEIN, "to give judgment against." This has two nouns: 
KATA-KRISIS, act of condemning; KATA-KRIMA, sentence of 
condemnation (or state of condemnation). These meanings are not 
disputed. Now, KRINEIN and derivatives occur 170 times in the 
New Testament, and is properly rendered "judge" 150 times. Why, 
then, is it rendered condemn 7 times, accuse, twice, and "damn" only 
8 times? So Kata-Krinein, used 24 times in New Testament, twice 
only rendered "damn," but 22 times properly "condemn." The con- 
clusion is that no word for damnation occurs in the New Testament. 
Now, note the 10 passages where the meaning "damn" is forced on 
condemn and see the bias of the translation. 

Mark 12: 40, "greater damnation," not in hell forever, but "a 
severer judgment" for crime, if hypocrisy is added. 

Matt. 23:33, How shall ye (Scribes, Vs. 29) escape the damna- 
tion of hell? properly, "the judgment of Gehenna." 

Mark 3 : 29, Eternal damnation, so King James' Version. The 
true reading is "eonian sin." 

John 5: 29, Resurrection of judgment (not damnation), the word 
is krisis. 

Rom. 3 : 8, Their damnation is just. Am. R. V. has condemnation. 

Rom. 13: 1,2, This passage simply says that those who resist au- 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 1 45 

thorities will expose themselves to "judgment." Revolutionists are 
not damned to hell. 

I Tim. 5:12, Young widows marry again, having "damnation" or 
"judgment;" which? "The priestly classes which have dominated and 
degraded the church, have planted themselves on this blunder of trans- 
lation and have made all broken vows and political rebellion crimes 
certain to meet the penalty of endless torture." 

I Cor. 1 1 : 29, "eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drink- 
eth damnation to himself; this blunder has added to the misconcep- 
tion of this Scripture, bad enough without that. 

II Thess. 2: 12, "judged," not damned. See R. V. 
Kata-krinein occurs in two passages: Mark 16: 16, condemned, 

not damned; Rom. 14: 23, He that doubteth is "damned" if he eat, 
should be "condemned" (by his own conscience, not doomed to hell). 
II Peter 2: 1-3, damnable heresies; here another Greek word is used, 
meaning destructive. There is no excuse for the word "damn" in our 
English translation of the Bible as indicating "damned to Hell." 

"Judgment" is in constant exercise, but what the penalty, or 
where, this word does not in itself declare. 

Anderson says much of this is true, and would be helpful if 
written in any other connection. 

Cox also objects to hell as a rendering of Gehenna — and to both 
as meaning the place of final and everlasting torment of the wicked. 
(But how can everlasting be final?) Anderson says in accord, "This 
meaning is one which hell scarcely possesses at all in classical English." 

Hades may be passed by here, as the American Revised Version 
transfers the word bodily; it does not translate. Cox properly says 
that Gehenna is locally the valley of the son of Hinnom, and describes 
its uses in disposing of carcasses, etc. Anderson seems more concerned 
about crushing his opponent than getting at the Scriptural truth of 
Gehenna. He says, "What moral would he [Cox] draw from it? 
That the offal and the carcasses were thrown there to purify and fit 
them for some high and noble use? It is amazing how anyone can be 
so blind as not to see in this figure the most graphic and terrible of 
utter and hopeless destruction." Which is not turning to Scripture 
for light. The truth of Gehenna is fulfilled in the thousand years 
when the righteous shall enjoy eonian life, and when the hosts of Anti- 
christ overthrown shall in that valley furnish the worm and the 
vulture. This is Scripture, not argument. 



I46 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Isa. 65 : 24 : 

"And all men shall bow before Me, says Jehovah, 
And shall go out and look on the bodies of men 
Who revolted from Me, 
How their worms die not for the eon, 
And the fire is not quenched 
And they are abhorred of mankind." 

This is not hell as preachers picture it. Rev. 19: 17, 18, the same 
scene is not in any hell, but where men in the flesh can see them. 

One expression does not describe every aspect of every class, dead 
or alive, who are judged and doomed at the beginning of that Millen- 
nial judgment day. These sentences, either Millennial or final, are 
not the natural results of ignorance. Rather, they are intended to 
cause despair of self-deliverance and a readiness to see and seize the 
opportunity of a face-to-face experience at the Great White Throne 
Session. Conscience, imagination, and earthly teaching has led them 
to picture that "Face" distorted by wrath. On the contrary that Face 
has won every soul that has seen the expression of the Divine character 
in it, from little children to Saul of Tarsus. What soul was ever 
saved by believing that God was just? As those who would deny the 
truth of this line of remark insist that endless torment is a penalty 
exacted by justice, we wonder they do not deny to that enthroned 
One any other trait of character. But must not God's whole nature 
be free to act? And must He not thus be known and worshipped? 
Shall Love be forbidden to act in grace that justice be not tarnished? 
And once again does not this belittle the work of the cross, and dim 
the glory of that righteousness that was there established in such a 
way that He himself might be just, and the justifier of Him that is of 
faith of Jesus ? Do not limit this in any hasty attempt to bolster up a 
doctrine or a theory. What is the righteousness of God? You may 
say it is only consummated when one believes. Yes, to human experi- 
ence, but this changes the question. Who are you to say that eternal 
unbelief is certain? Scripture? No, you have a sandy foundation, 
when you insist that olamic and eonian can mean both limited and 
unlimited duration. Partizans of a creed cry out, You are limiting 
God. No, only recognizing the time and space limits of the creature's 
apprehension; you are limiting God's love, power, wisdom, while 
claiming immortality for yourself, and insisting on it that "eternity" 
is not too big a word for present use. Wake up! Eternity? What 
do you know about endless duration, you creature of time and space. 



HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC. 1 47 

But the Bible says eternal? If you continue to endorse this false 
and carnal translation, there is no more to be said. 

Cox says of hell, truly, "It is not the counterpart of any original 
word of Scripture." (On the other hand, it was a legal idea that men 
had, and they searched Scripture for endorsement. They proclaim 
that they have found it in Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, The 
Lake of the Fire, The Pit, Abaddon, Perdition.) 

Cox says of Tartarus (II Peter 2:4, 9), "The Lord knows how 
to reserve unrighteous men, under punishment, unto the day of judg- 
ment." This, then, is not the final estate, but that in which they await 
judgment. Peter cites Sodom's overthrow and the antediluvians, 
but first he mentions the example of the angels whom God spared not, 
but cast them into Tartarus, delivering them over into dens of dark- 
ness, to be held in custody "with a view to judgment." 

Anderson says, "Tartarus was therefore not final, but a place in 
which they were held until the time of judgment arrived." 

Paradise and Gehenna, waiting places, intermediate; so Hades; the 
demons expect torment when judgment comes ; they are all ignorant of 
Gospel. 



CHAPTER IX 
FREE-WILL, OR SELF-DETERMINATION 

When natural religious philosophers seat themselves in the chair 
of systematic theology, they give utterance to some astounding assump- 
tions as to present and future relations between God and man. But 
of all these the assertions made concerning man's free-will (they 
would demand a capital F) and its powers are the most dogmatic. 
They savor of that idea, the first utterance of which was, "Ye shall be 
as gods," and the culmination of which (so near at hand) will be the 
Armageddon opposition to all that is called God. 

First, "Who art thou, O man, to criticize God? Should the thing 
made say to the Maker, Why have you made me thus?" 

Second, That a man's will can successfully resist God's will in- 
volves the idea that a man is nothing but a will, and that there is" 
nothing in his nature that can be moved upon to change his will. Is it 
true that God in his Wisdom and Power and Love has not resources in 
reserve that can successfully appeal to any creature that he has made ? 
Unless, indeed, you hold that in this self-determination of the creature 
he is but another God, grown wiser than his Creator. 

Third, Consider the case of Saul of Tarsus in this connection ; his 
prominence, his character; the dramatic incident, thrice recounted, 
that emphasizes his entrance on the scene; his remarkable life, his 
commissions, his ministry, so universal in its scope; and then read 
carefully in his first epistle to Timothy, Chapter I, verses 12 to 17, 
what he was, how he was saved, why the Lord had mercy upon him. 
Saul was chosen from his birth, and thus singled out, for an elect 
special dealing for two declared reasons. First, because he did it 
ignorantly, and in unbelief. The sin element is in the background. 
Second, that God's method with him, which has not yet been dupli- 
cated, was to be a sample of how some hereafter should trust in Christ 
Jesus unto eonian life. Saul was the first fruit, the sample, of uni- 
versality of mercy in action, and successful in the face of self-will 
of the most determined character, of sin against light, of the abuse of 
privilege, gifts, opportunities. "Chief of sinners;" no Judas or Jeze- 
bel, or Nero or Bloody Mary, Annas, Caiphas, High-priest or 
cannibal, was beyond him as worthy of punishment. But punishment 
he received not. Nor will any ignorant or unbelieving one of whom 

148 



FREE-WILL, OR SELF-DETERMINATION 1 49 

he is a chief and sample, "hereafter" at the eonian "sitting" of the 
Great White Throne, receive other than the mercy which Saul received. 
Such is the declaration of this passage. And if this force of it is to be 
rejected, it should be only after the most searching consideration of its 
words in every possible light, dispensational, timely, and contextual. 
The commission of Paul who writes it, the place chronologically it has 
in the progressive nature of his teaching, and the spiritual intelligence 
of the person addressed, and the completeness of it, make the omission 
of certain things significant. Paul's second group of letters was writ- 
ten to the whole church, his third group was confined to saints and 
believers, and in this fourth group he singles out two faithful co- 
laborers in full fellowship with the truth of his previous revelations. 
These only could receive it as full-grown; they are not the "infants" 
of Heb. 5: 12-14; nor the "carnal" of I Cor. 3: 1-3. 

The fact that Saul's conversion was through the sight of Messiah, 
as the conversion of the nation will be when His feet stand upon the 
Mount of Olives, but emphasizes the greater fact. For Israel is a 
first-born Son, with a double portion to meet the responsibilities of his 
prerogative. Neither nations nor individuals live for themselves alone, 
and if hard-hearted Israel is to be born from above, and love the Lord, 
then also the sadly ignorant and unbelieving will be dealt with accord- 
ing to the divers manners that are within the purpose of God for their 
illumination. Such consideration should be enough to condemn the 
rabid egotism that could exalt Free-will into Free-agency, and then 
into self-determination. This latter term is now the fashion. 

Dean Torrey writes ( 1918 A. D.) , "God has made us in His own 
image, with a moral nature, with a capacity for self-determination, 
with a power of choice, and men can — choose to reject the One who 
w T as wounded for their transgressions and bruised for their iniquities, 
and upon whom the chastisement of their peace was laid, and some 
will so choose/" Well, Dean Torrey has before this testified that at 
one time "he did so choose himself." What changed his choice? Did 
not Saul so choose? What changed Saul's choice? Who initiated the 
movement of forces which brought about the change ? Did the sinner 
seek the Savior before the Savior sought the sinner? 

Dean Gray writes of the rich man of Luke 16: 19-31, "There is 
not one word of repentance ; he seems almost content where he is. He 
would prevent the like experience to his relatives, but as for himself, 
his will is definitely fixed to abide there ! . . . Does not evil cloud the 



150 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

intellect so as to render impotent the very faculties by which it might 
be eradicated ? And what about the human will ? In order to be free, 
must not the will be unrestricted in its exercise? And who can say 
that any soul in hell will of its own free will choose to repent and turn 
to God?" Is this Ambassador for Christ retained by the other side? 
Why, then, no suggestion of Scripture that speaks of hope? And more 
also, Why ignore the declared "reconciliation of the Universe?" 

Dr. Julius Muller, on sin, says, "Blasphemy is its culmination 
(Matt. 12: 31) ; that sin excludes forgiveness because it destroys the 
capacity for repentance." This is from one of the "profound" the- 
ologians. Free-will, having safely put its owner into hell, must be 
destroyed so that it cannot let him out. 

Even the "Mitigators" admit, "There may be those eternally 
damned so far as their abuse of freedom continues eternally." 

"There is no standing still, good grows better, evil grows worse. 
Sin which belongs to a man at death develops into that blasphemy 
which casts down to eternal fellowship with Satan." 

Words ! Words ! Words ! without knowledge, but they are chains 
which ecclesiastics rivet on their laity, even as the Pharisees bound 
heavy burdens upon men's shoulders. (Matt. 23 : 4.) 

"The will, in the exercise of its imperishable gift of freedom, may 
accept even an endless punishment and find peace in the acceptance." 
But, having once chosen punishment rather than pardon, it becomes 
impotent? and never can or will make any other choice? So they say. 

"The transgression which is to receive the endless punishment is 
voluntary. Sin is unforced human agency [but not uninfluenced]. 
This is the uniform premise of Christian theologians of all schools. 
Endless punishment supposes the liberty of the human will and is 
impossible without it." 

Shedd, "The endlessness of sin results from the nature and energy 
of self-determination. There is no will so wilful as a wicked will. 
Enmity and hatred become more and more Satanic, the sinful will 
grows into a bondage. Sin is the suicidal action of the human will." 
Thus, it kills itself and keeps itself killed. "The will to resist sin may 
die out of a man, but the conscience to condemn it never can." "When 
his will to good is all gone, there remain these two in his immortal 
spirit, sin and conscience, brimstone and fire." This is all sophistry, 
but it is in keeping. The ingenuity of the inquisitor is seen in this 
demon of self-determination which makes a man choose hell, and then 



FREE-WILL, OR SELF-DETERMINATION 151 

annihilates itself, so that it can no more be exercised to choose a differ- 
ent fate. Or, we may say: having made a bad choice, man loses 
free-will, lest systematic theology should lose its pet doctrine and prove 
itself wanting. 

Advocates of hell make these presumptions; that some will main- 
tain a will contrary to God's will endlessly; that they will continue 
in endless impenitence, for without it, endless punishment could not 
be maintained. And to make sure that some will thus endlessly defy 
God's will, they assert that the issues between God and man are settled 
for each individual in his lifetime only. 

Here is the cold-blooded theological position: The Professor 
says: "If he can demonstrate that the principles of eternal rectitude 
are not in the least degree infringed upon, but are fully maintained 
when sin is endlessly punished, he has done all that his problem re- 
quires. Whatever is just is beyond all rational attack." As if God 
were nothing but an animated testing machine ! But even on this low 
plane there is no reference to any standard of what is right. This 
objection is not to be lightly dismissed, for the Bible reveals several 
different standards. "Sin and conscience remain," but is conscience 
sure that it has the right standard ? 

1. There was created righteousness, and Adam was a sample 
(Eccl. 7: 29). 

2. There is the Covenant Standard of the Decalog (Deut. 
6: 5, 25; 30: 6; Ezek. 18: 20). 

3. There is the general Gentile Standard (Rom. 2: 14, 15). 

4. And there is the Righteousness of God. The risen Christ is 
the sample of this last standard. (Col. 3: 10.) It would be sinful 
and wicked for a man to kill another; but Jehovah says, "I kill." 
If Jehovah could not, or did not, make that dead man "alive," in- 
justice might be charged; but "all His ways are right." 

There is a free "will" and a free "will not." "Son, go work 
to-day in the vineyard." "I will not," "but afterwards he repented 
himself and went." The second answered, "I go, sir," and went not. 
Matt. 1 1 : 20-24, Luke 10: 12-16, Here we see the free "will-not" 
of Tyre and Sidon and Sodom in unhampered exercise. The state- 
ment is made, however, that these "will-nots" would have been re- 
versed without violating the sanctity of self-determination if God had 
sent someone there to do certain mighty works such as were done two 
thousand years later in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Set 



152 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

your spiritual senses to work on this, and even that natural intuitive 
sense of justice that looms up so large in this discussion. God could 
have brought about repentance, but He did not, and yet He is "not 
willing that any should perish." Why let the self-determination of 
Sodom send all but Lot's family to hell, when Jehovah could have pre- 
vented it without desecration of Sodom's Holy Will? 

Come down later; Capernaum, in free exercise of will, did not 
repent at the evidence that would have saved Sodom. But may we not 
say that God could have multiplied persuasive motives that would 
have availed ? When Jerusalem was about to be taken by Titus, 
would they not have hailed their Messiah with all His holy angels as 
readily as they will when He does come to deliver, as the prophets tell 
us, when His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, and the besieged 
remnant cry, "This is our God." Surely Capernaum would have 
repented, and would not have been brought down to Hades ; Jerusalem 
would have stood. If Jesus, Messiah, had appeared to Saul of Tarsus 
as he held the clothes of Stephen's religious murderers, would not 
the effect have been the same? Oh, no! you say, the time was not 
ripe, Saul was not ready then! All right! Then why not rightly 
divide the Scriptures which show that The Son of God follows a 
program and confess that, 

"There is a time for every purpose, 
And for every desire under the sun, 
A time for birth, and a time for death; — 
A time to kill, and a time to cure ; — 
A time of war, and a time of peace." 

There is a time and a course of treatment for Saul and there is 
a time for Paul, a time for the elect, and a time for the non-elect. 
Going back, If the "One Sent" to be "the Savior of the World" could 
have saved Sodom, but did not, are we to believe that He missed His 
only opportunity, and now nevermore can He cease to torment them 
lest He go contrary to man's intuitions as to what He ought to do? 
Is it not possible "to justify the ways of God to man"? Has God 
allowed the will of Sodom to harden beyond the condition where He 
could have reached them? Perhaps you retort with, "Will not the 
Judge of the whole earth do justice?" — Certainly. Do not you your- 
self believe so? "But God does not have to save anyone if He does 
not want to?" Why ask such a useless question when you profess 
to believe that "He desireth that all shall come to Him"? 



FREE-WILL, OR SELF-DETERMINATION 1 53 

Judah, Israel, Moab, Ammon, Assyria, Egypt, Elam, Sodom, — 
all these have had destruction threatened and executed, and yet their 
restoration is foretold (Jer. 33:7; 48:7,47; Ezek. 16:53; Ezek. 
29:14; Isa. 19: 24, 25). They had their time of "will-not" in 
ignorance; they have their time of restoration when, in the day of 
Messiah's power, the people shall be "willing." 

Is this ogre of Free-will some demon that possesses us just to 
thwart the fulfillment of desire? Or does the will obey the desire of 
the heart? How is this? (Prov. 4:23.) "Keep thy heart with all 
diligence for out of it are the issues of life." Matt. 12: 34, "Out of 
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matt. 15: 18-20; 
Mark 7 : 21-23 J Jas. 4:3; Jer. 18 : 12.) They tell us that sin comes 
by self-determination; but, "when the woman SAW — TO BE DE- 
SIRED," she took. Is free-will to take the very place of the soul of 
man? Or is it only one element? Is the eighteenth of Jeremiah to 
cut no figure in this matter of salvation? "Ye stiff-necked and un- 
circumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; 
as your fathers did so do ye." "And Jehovah thy God will circumcise 
thy heart and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all 
thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." "And so all 
Israel shall be saved," and Free-will has to come tagging after. 

The Dean says, "Men can, // they will, choose — to trample God's 
saving love under foot — and some will so choose." As a matter of 
fact, all choose to do so by nature, but when they come into the new 
creation, their choice is actuated as Paul's was, "The love of Christ 
constraineth me." 

Origen taught the perpetual freedom of the will! Therefore no 
limit to the period of restoration. Why not! If a man is pardoned 
and saved righteously on the merits of Christ's work, and if in free- 
will he has the capacity for self-determination, why not exercise it at 
any future time ? 

If a man's sins merit endless punishment, on what righteous basis 
can any sinner be saved that does not obtain endlessly. Is this so im- 
portant free-will taken away after he has passed a certain point? 

Gregory, of Nyassa, "For since by its very nature evil cannot exist 
apart from free choice; when all free choice becomes in the power of 
God, shall not evil advance to utter abolition, so that no receptacle 
for it shall at all be left?" 

Dean Gray, Luke 16, The rich man in Hades; "He seems almost 



154 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

content where he is" — "this is not to say that he finds the place de- 
sirable," — "his will is definitely fixed to abide there." He writes as 
if all initiative must be taken by the sinner; as if when a man dies, 
God could do no more for him. On the contrary, it is then that most 
men find out that they can do no more for themselves. Then, un- 
hindered by man's bodily desires, God has a free field to influence and 
instruct the spirit. 

The Atonement (used as a theological term takes in much more 
than the Scripture does) ; it secured universal blessing as far as God's 
part is concerned, in creation, providence, revelation, redemption, 
Love, Wisdom, Power. Also as far as God's purpose, desire, promise, 
and prophecy is concerned, the Universe will be reconciled. To many 
the only unsurmountable obstacle is the free-will of the sinner. A 
sinner hears, sees, wills, submits and then his sins are pardoned. That 
is, they say, sins up to date only ; there is then a running account kept 
until death. And again this denies the conclusive merit of Christ's 
sacrifice. 

Article 43 of the Anglican Church was dropped in 1553, A. D. 
It condemned universal restoration. The heading was, "All men 
shall not be saved at length," as resting on new interpretation of 
"eternal." This wider hope does not appear in the established church, 
during the controversies under Elizabeth and James, but strangely 
enough among the Puritans of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. See 
words of Peter Sterry. 

The existence of departed souls of the wicked is not one of works 
and deeds, but of thought and self-fathoming; they are shut up to 
self. They have remembrances, but not hope; for they are ignorant 
of Gospel. In life their mind is occupied with externals ; at death all 
these distractions cease ; the spirit and conscience are not influenced by 
veils of sense; the spirit must recognize realities. 

Farrar, "The Christian consciousness of salvation in all its fullness 
would lose its deepest reality were the doctrine of eternal condemna- 
tion surrendered." "It must be allowed that universal restoration 
finds some foundation and sanction in Scripture." "Deep search dis- 
covers antinomies" (contradictions?). And then the old convenient 
excuse comes in, "No solution is to be found in our present stage of 
knowledge, etc." (Because "I" have not found it.) "Antinomies" 
are seen in Matt. 25 : 46 ; Mark 9 143; Matt. 12:32; I John 5: 16, 



FREE-WILL OR SELF-DETERMINATION 155 

which have endlessness; and I Cor. 15 : 26, 28 ; Eph. 1 : 10; Col. 1 : 20, 
which have reconciliation. 

Martenson finds hope "starting from the idea of God's Fatherly 
character, leading on to Universal Restoration (Reconciliation is the 
Biblical word), while life and facts conduct us to the dark goal of 
eternal damnation." Gospel is the foundation of hope, and law the 
element of despair, would be truer words. 

"Eons may pass! but if the will is free, any nature endowed 
with reason may pass from one order of being to another! each act 
bringing its own punishment or reward." ("Plato, De Princ," I 
Ch.,6.) 

Ps. 102 : 26 ; II Peter 3 : 10. Change is not destruction for animate 
or inanimate. "Our God is a consuming fire ; this fire consumes evil 
but not souls that He has redeemed." 

Illingsworth, "All actions are caused (or guided) by ends, aims, 
purposes, ideals, which we are free to follow or refuse. Hence we are 
self-determined. Choice repeated makes habit; habit, character; char- 
acter, destiny. There is a capacity for self-determination, and there- 
fore, self -creation. Outward things do not choose; the inner man 
.chooses its own end, elects what it will become, and thereby asserts its 
existence." Yes? Is it not ethical and emotional also? And is it 
independent of its Creator? 

For life with all it yields, of joy and woe 
And hope and fear — (believe the aged friend) 
Is just our chance of learning love, 
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is. 

— Browning, "Death in the Desert." 

Plumptre, "There are many among the dead who are not conscious 
of one act of will; who have not made a deliberate choice of evil, who 
for some length of time before they died were delirious, etc., but all 
this need not be argued." 

If God is not willing that any should perish, does he become will- 
ing after a man dies? 

Men ignorant of God and His gospel are said to be shut up to 
endless hell torments without knowing why, except that they are not 
what they ought to be. And they know not how to change them- 
selves, for they never heard of a transforming power. 

Torrey, "Beings who eternally choose sin should eternally suffer." 
(And why not state the alternative?) "It is the inescapable teaching 



156 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

of the Word of God that all who go out of this life without having 
accepted Jesus Christ, will spend eternity in a hell of unutterable con- 
scious anguish." But where is the Scripture so boldly appealed to? 
No one tells us where this inescapable teaching is to be found. "Where 
the tree falls it shall lie," has been referred to. Rev. 22 : 1 1 ; this has 
been cited ! read the passage ; it is addressed to prophetic churches that 
are to pass the testing period of the tribulation. They are warned that 
Messiah is soon to come. It is pre-millennial. 

A power of self-determination is credited to man, which Omnipo- 
tence and Omniscience is not able to sway without inconsistency. 
"The only door of salvation has been closed by their own act." God 
will have done all that Infinite Wisdom, Power and Love could do 
to save them ; but they would not come to Him, they choose the path 
of ruin, and are bound by the cords of their own iniquities; they have 
made a final choice, they have decreed the sempiternity of it. Their 
punishment is inflicted by themselves. Now this Free-will that sets 
itself above all that is called God, and decrees at the same time that 
God shall keep him in endless existence, in which he endlessly defies 
God, weakens at last, not to give God a chance, but it becomes power- 
less to change fixed habit of wickedness in order through repentance to 
find relief. It must be a most astounding mind that can think of any- 
thing while enduring the accumulated agonies, endlessly, increasing in 
intensity, which it is said he suffers. Are they human beings, or me- 
chanical talking machines that keep up this vocabulary of horrors. 
Does grace produce no thrills, that this "penny dreadful" stuff must 
be resorted to? Free-agency thus ties itself up in indissoluble chains. 
God his Maker is supposed to be helpless to bring about anything 
better, or is it that God does not care? Far be the thought! 

Shedd, "Almightiness itself cannot forgive impenitence, any more 
than it can square a circle." Now turn to Acts 13: 38. Here is an 
address to impenitent men. "Unto you is preached forgiveness of sin," 
II Cor. 5 : 19, "not charging their sins unto them." An impenitent 
nation crucified its King-Messiah. He prayed, "Father forgive them, 
they know not what they do." Were they forgiven? — Answer: And 
they have remained impenitent to this day, and will, until his feet stand 
upon the Mount of Olives, and they say, "This is our God." Peni- 
tent? — Yes, but centuries after they were forgiven. Not one sin has 
been charged since resurrection; Thanatos does not hold one sinner. 



FREE-WILL OR SELF-DETERMINATION 157 

(Strong meat or heresy, which?) Let your spiritual senses be ex- 
ercised to discern. (Heb. 5:14;! Cor. 3:2.) 

Listen to Saul of Tarsus, 'I obtained mercy because I did it in 
ignorance and unbelief!" Have the advocates of endless punishment 
for sin ever referred to this pertinent precedent, which is declared to 
be a sample of God's method on some future occasion ? Has Saul's ex- 
perience been repeated? — No, but it will be hereafter; so we read in 
I Tim. 1 : 15. 

The Lost! Who lost them? God? "The Son of Man is come 
to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus found the lost sheep, 
but it would not come back, says the theologian, and what can God 
do? Will He have to lose it? 

The war lords of government and the theologians of religion are 
in the same condemnation. Kings and kingdoms form the only human 
government that is approved of God. The Bible knows nothing of 
government by Demos. There can be no order or efficiency in any 
kind of organization unless it is subject to one head. What happens 
where other heads are added? The human body is under one head, 
and there is one God only. It is expedient certainly when the world 
rejects its God that they should curb the power of their kings who 
have prostituted their office to selfish ends, but they should not exalt 
their shifty democratic idea above the Divine principle of order under 
one faithful head. This is why Jesus is coming again, to furnish the 
world with a political head after God's own heart, for one thousand 
years. Is there any other hope for politics? 

We also read that the priests' lips should keep knowledge, and 
they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of 
Jehovah of Hosts. With very rare exceptions the priest followed the 
politician in prostituting the power of his office. For practical purposes 
let us substitute "theologian" for "priest." Systematic theologians are 
highly esteemed in Christendom. There is Augustine, to whose name 
they affix the word saint ; Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Calvin, Edwards, 
Pusey, Hodge, Shedd, etc. These men have assumed leadership over 
the minds of professing Christians. Our Lord said of the religious 
leaders of Judaism, "The Scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves 
on Moses's seat." (Matt. 23:2.) You will find that theologians 
have perverted this passage in English for their own purpose, wittingly 
or unwittingly. What have they done with God's blessed purpose in 
election? — They have perverted it to mean the reprobation of all 



I58 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

non-elect, including infants, and to repeat their words would soil 
even these pages. Were Abraham and Israel elect ? — Yes. Does this 
predestine all the rest of the world to endless torment? — Yes, say 
the theologians; but no, say some others, there are some elect Gentiles. 
And what did Jehovah say to Abraham? "In thee and in thy seed 
shall all the families of the earth be" — damned or blest? The elect 
nation is to be a kingdom of priests to curse the Gentile nations of 
the Millennium or to bless them ? All God's elect, and Jesus was one, 
were chosen to be ministers of blessing — not for their own selfish 
benefit. But Israel has called the non-elect Gentiles "dogs," and 
Christendom's elect have doomed the non-elect men, women and 
babes to the vengeance of endless torment. 

"Finally impenitent," the changes are rung on this, but what is its 
genesis? At the end of what? And where is Scripture authority for 
it? God himself, say the Doctors and Lawyers and Scribes, cannot 
save the finally impenitent. But this has the transcendental taint of 
eternalism. If the end of eternity finds men impenitent, it is so far 
away we cannot see it. "They have made a final choice; they have 
decreed the finality and eternity of it, not God." (Haley.) 

"Too Late!" they say; the door is shut. Omnipotence cannot open 
it. They cry in the interests of Justice, Shut that door ! Opportunity 
is brief, but consequences are uncontrollable. Some say God shuts 
them out; others assert that the door is closed by the soul's free act. 
Who is the doorkeeper of salvation? Why should not our sense of 
Divine justice demand to know why Omnipotence, Omniscience and 
Infinite Love are to be overborne by a creature made for his glory, 
who can remain alienated when all else is reconciled ? What being is 
this that with all evil ingenuity can thwart Truth, Wisdom and Love 
and Power? Is this another God who thus fulfills the tempter's 
primal promise ? God of the Nadir as opposed to God of the Zenith ? 

"No Scripture is given for the supremacy of man's will over the 
wishes of God, except that He 'has made us in His own image.' But 
if man is made in the image of a god who has no power to carry out 
his wishes, why should man be so highly endowed?" — A. E. Knock. 

Man's will is free within the limits of its own function. It is one 
of many elements of a man's nature. It is limited by its relation to 
these other elements. It cannot be taken out of these relations, be 
isolated, be given a personality, and set up above all that is called God. 
Such an antichristian attempt comes to nothing. A man and woman 



FREE-WILL OR SELF-DETERMINATION 159 

are free in themselves and in their own sphere, but in the marriage re- 
lation they are limited, and limited without coercion. Is not the Son 
of God free ? — Yes. But in relation to a universe in process of educa- 
tion, He is limited by that relation. It is in this limitation that He is 
misjudged. But is He coerced? — No. "In the volume of the Book 
it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will." So Paul said, "The 
love of Christ constraineth me." 

Man's will is free in itself, but limited by its relations to other 
things. Man's will in relation to God's will has this blessed limitation, 
"Thy will, not mine, be done." Can there be a more blessed exercise 
of man's will than that of our Lord Jesus in Gethsemane? What is 
the fruit of man's will that follows man's ignorant independence from 
Adam to Antichrist? 



IX 



CHAPTER X 
MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 

In this chapter there are a number of sayings that are of interest 
in connection with the theme of this book. They are taken from 
literary scribes, religious lawyers, theological Pharisees, and men of 
God. Some have seated themselves in Moses's seat as having author- 
ity. Some ask with Pilate, "What is Truth?" Some reply to the 
question, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" "Who is He, 
Lord, that I might believe?" Some would say with the Greeks, "Sirs, 
we would see Jesus." Some are like the Ethiopian; he came to the 
Holy City, Jerusalem, seeking light on "The unknown God," but 
departed uninstructed, and, even with a copy of the Oracles of God, 
open to the words of Isaiah 53, before him, was still compelled to 
answer Philip, "How can I understand unless some one explain it to 
me?" There are moderns as eager and ready as Zaccheus, as noble 
and diligent as the Bereans, and even as the Thessalonians, who are 
slow to perceive. 

As to our Bible expositors, we see some sure where others doubt; 
doctors disagreeing, and scribes disputing. When for important doc- 
trines some find no authority where others have * 'confirmation strong 
as proofs of Holy Writ," how can the ordinary believer come to the 
knowledge of the truth ? How know whether God's vengeance awaits 
sinners in the future? Or whether the sin question was settled at 
the cross? How can he be made to see that the work of the Son 
reveals the character of the Father? Must he have the experience of 
the blind man of John 9, be cast out of the synagogue to find the truth 
in Jesus? The theologian seems to have the key of knowledge, but 
he enters not, and hinders others. Happily, the Spirit of God finds the 
man who is eager to learn, and God reveals to babes what He may hide 
from the wise and prudent. He will unveil the light in due season 
even to legal zealots, though they may have to take a large dose of 
"their own way" first. The nature of the experience that Israel will 
have to pass through is unveiled in the last book of prophecy. That 
will be a terrible "operation" that removes the veil from their eyes. 
But blessed are those who, having not seen, yet believe. Prophecy is 
said to be a light in a dark place, but "systematic Theology" seems 
to have no use for it. The little dogs under the table can but pick up 

160 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS l6l 

the crumbs that the professors throw them. The light of prophecy 
has been turned to darkness by pride and presumption, and there is 
widespread prejudice against it. Ignorant? — Well the highly educated 
Elliott is not so classed, but he interprets the Apocalypse by historical 
events of this unprophetic dispensation. The ninth chapter of Reve- 
lation describes the demoniac locusts as "like horses made ready for 
battle — and they had tails." These tails, says the expositor Elliott, are 
"the horse tails borne as symbols of authority by the Turkish pashas." 
Dean Alford calls this "the culminating instance of incongruous inter- 
pretation." But the Dean himself says that the church is seen every- 
where in the symbols of the Apocalypse, with one exception. This is 
certainly incongruous interpretation, even though the "horse tails" may 
be called the culmination. 

1. Canon Farrar, in his "Eternal Hope," p. 68, says, "Pardon 
me for reproducing what I abhor." This is also appropriate to the 
present chapter. 

2. There was a certain newsboy in New York who had a very 
valuable asset in the volume, tone and thrill that he could put into the 
one word "h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e," and he used it on every possible occasion. 
One day in the competitive rush to get on the street first, he seized 
his papers and made for his corner before looking at the headlines; 
but he began promptly with his H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E ! and hastily glanc- 
ing to see what, could find no murder or accident, and had to be con- 
tent with "FALL IN STOCKS." The "lure of the horrible" tempts 
to rhetorical thrillers, to sensational headlines, and to oratorical 
climaxes in clerical dogmatics. A lover of the truth should stick to the 
text. 

3. "What the popular notion of hell is, you, my brethren, are all 
aware. Many of us were scared with it, horrified with it, perhaps 
almost maddened by it, in our childhood. It is, that the moment a 
human being dies, at whatever age, under whatever disadvantages, 
his fate is sealed finally and forever, and that if he die in unrepented 
sin, that fate is a never-ending agony, amid physical tortures the most 
frightful that can be imagined." — Farrar. 

4. Farrar admits the criticism that certain quotations disfigure 
his pages, and says, "Some of them fill me with shame and horror." 
"But it is painfully necessary to show what it is that men claiming all 
the infallibility of authorized teachers have taught as revelations of 
God. Romanist, Protestant, Anglican and Non-conformist." You 



1 62 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

will find all the samples necessary in Farrar's "Mercy and Judg- 
ment." There he quotes Cyprian, Minocius Felix, Augustine, 
Caesarius of Aries, Venerable Bede, Vision of Tundale, Thomas 
Aquinas, Bonaventura, Fray Luis de Granada, Sir Thomas Moore, 
Calvin, Ignatius Loyola, Jeremy Taylor, Nieremberg, Catechismus 
Romanus, Francis de Sales, Barrow, Bunyan, Baxter, South, Thos. 
Boston, Young, Jonathan Edwards, Alban Butler, John Whitaker, 
John Wesley, Dean of Gloucester, Bishop Oxenden, Dr. Gardner 
Spring, Bonheur, Catechism of the Wesleyan Methodists, Keble, John 
Foster, Dante's Inferno Illustrated by Dore, etc. 

5. "In description of hell's fierce fiery eyes, and blaspheming 
yells, and lurid vaults, and mutual hatreds, and mighty demons, and 
brutal rioting, drunkards, and unchecked debauchees, whose every 
touch is torment, have we not languages which differ widely from 
the language of Scripture? The woodcuts of Pinamonti are before me. 
Even to look upon them seems to leave on the mind filled with faith in 
God's Fatherhood the effect of a sin which needs immediate lustra- 
tion." — Farrar. 

6. It produces a perfect fear that casts out love. 

7. Minucius Felix spoke of the fire of hell as a conscious fire 
which at once burns and renews, feeds on and nourishes the limbs. 

8. This idea "has arisen solely from the abuse, exaggeration, and 
misrepresentation of metaphors; and has been founded upon the ex- 
position of all parts of the Bible, alike by those who, from stereo- 
typed prejudices, or from want of literary training, and especially from 
their complete ignorance of the modes of Eastern expression, refuse 
to weigh the meanings of words, or to interpret language by the ordi- 
nary laws of historic criticism. (Farrar.) "That the fire of hell in 
which sinners are tormented, is corporeal and material, all living the- 
ologians, nay more, all Christians, are agreed." Pusey admits that the 
fire of hell has been understood to be material fire "almost universally 
by Christians." — Petavius, 1652. 

9. "It is infinitely beyond the highest archangel's faculty to ap- 
prehend a thousandth part of the horror of the doom of eternal 
damnation." — John Foster, 1843. 

10. "Insatiate desire for intoxicating drinks will not wholly die 
with the body; there may well be a mental element in it which will 
survive the dissolution of the corporeal organism. Must not this ap- 
petite torture its victim forever by its non-gratification ?" "The filthy 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 63 

sensualist whose earthly life has been the prey of licentious passion, 
may, in the sexless future, be tormented by the inextinguishable fires 
of lust, — and that with no possible or conceivable opportunity of re- 
prieve or gratification. Such would be a dread ingredient in the cup 
of final (?) woe." — Haley. 

11. "These scorpion passions will sting and torment your soul 
with unutterable anguish." — Horace Mann, 

12. This is almost a quotation from Aristotle, one of the most dis- 
tinguished pagan philosophers. He says, "We must be pained, it is a 
necessity of our moral being, when the wicked do not suffer, and 
when the righteous are not rewarded." Cicero felt that "the un- 
utterable wickedness of Cataline and his fellow-conspirators would be 
suitably rewarded only by eternal punishment." "So the barbarians 
on Melita (Acts 28 14). The feeling which they expressed was the 
natural and normal one" [but not the gospel one] . 

13. "In that world of never-ending gloom there will be no pos- 
sibility of repentance." "A state of conscious, unutterable, endless 
torment and anguish. This conception is an appalling one, the unmis- 
takable ( ?) inescapable ( ?) teaching of God's own word." — Torrey. 

14. Bishop Tillotson "insists on the exclusion of impenitent sin- 
ners from heaven," but he adds, "The Judge retains the right to remit 
the penalty!" But forgiveness by itself is not a saving gospel. 

15. Those who uphold the popular view with "tetanic rigidity," 
who believe in endless and increasing and most ingeniously conceived 
torments as the penalty for sin, charge those who repudiate these 
horrors with having a low estimate of sin's heinousness. They gloat 
over penal torments as gratifying their sense of abstract justice. But 
it may be asked, "How can justice ever be satisfied if the penalty never 
can be fully executed ? Punishment must be completed if justice is to 
be vindicated. The Pharisees thought that Jesus had a low estimate of 
sin. They said, this man eateth with publicans and sinners; this man, 
if he were a prophet, "would have perceived that she is a sinner;" 
"Father forgive them, they know not what they do." How did Jesus 
estimate sin? By the price paid for redemption? Or by endless ven- 
geance to be executed upon the sinner ? Yes, there was vengeance, but 
it was exhausted upon the sin-bearer. Why deny the sufficiency of that 
act of grace? Why argue the necessity of endless punishment to sup- 
plement it? The natural conscience will confess guilt, will recognize 
the necessity of retribution, but a man must see the justice of the 



164 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

penalty pronounced or he will seize the chance to cry, Unfair! And 
when a man sees the grace of God pay the penalty, believes and sub- 
mits to God, can he not deny the righteousness of any further 
penalty? The conscience and reason of the natural man do not lead 
him at first to paint hell in all this detail. It is the fervid exhorter 
that puts sting after sting in the lash, hoping to quicken penitence, but 
this is sadly overdone; it leaves the Divinely appointed power of the 
Gospel one side. 

16. "We find the Roman Catholic 'heir still filled with the 
tortures belonging to a barbarous age; red-hot gridirons, boiling 
cauldrons of lead and brimstone, a pestilential atmosphere, and a 
multitude of horned and cloven-footed demons, who — pursue the 
damned, inflicting upon them untold torments — . We have rejected 
these monstrous fables but have preserved a word which recalls them 
and confuses the popular imagination. It is the word 'hell,' which the 
sacred writers never use in the sense usually given it." — Dr. Ernest 
Petavel. 

17. Adam, thy sin is condoned! Eve, mother of all living hu- 
manity, — fill the earth with children who shall live a few short 
years, shall die, and go to Hell. Abraham, your seed shall be as 
the sand of the seashore; Sarah, why dost thou laugh? A vast 
number of your children shall "spend eternity in the flames of Hell !" 
With this idea Milton has Adam say to Eve: 

"Childless thou art, childless remain, so Death 
Shall be deceived his glut, and with us two 
Be forced to satisfy his ravenous maw." 

18. Damnation of infants was affirmed by the second canon of 
the Council of Carthage. 

19. Calvin says, "Infants? Yes. A decree horrible, yet true." 

20. Nathaniel Emmons, "It is absolutely necessary to approve 
the doctrine of reprobation to be saved." 

21. All this to satisfy the worldly philosopher's cry, "Justice! 
Justice! must be vindicated! like the mob that cries out, 'Lynch 
him! Lynch him!' " Is Judge Lynch to sit on that Great White 
Throne to settle the destiny of others better than he? — Hobab. 

22. "Is Heaven so high 

That pity cannot breathe its air, 

Its happy eyes forever dry, 

Its holy lips without a prayer? 






MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 65 

"My God! My God! if hither led 
By thy free grace unmerited, 
No palm or crown be mine, but let me keep 
A heart that still can feel, and eyes that still can weep !" 

23. "It is conventional nonsense that Hell's misery is necessary 
to the happiness of heaven. Come out of this mephitic theology (a 
noble word but damned), and state the concrete case of a mother's 
happiness dependent upon her child's misery." — Hobab. 

24. Charles Spurgeon is one of this order of rhetorical fire- 
worshippers. What else could have led him to utter the following: 
"Thou wilt look up there on the throne of God, and it shall be 
written 'Forever!' When the damned jingle the burning irons of 
their torment they shall say, 'Forever!' When they howl, Echo cries, 
'Forever'." 



<< < 



Forever' is written on their racks, 

'Forever' on their chains; 
'Forever' burneth in the fire, 

'Forever' ever reigns." — Quoted by F. W . F. 

25. Speaking of Milton, Jeremy Taylor, Augustine, Thomas 
Aquinas, Dante, etc., "great divines and poets gave us but the ebul- 
lient flashes from the glowing caldron of a kindled imagination. What 
they say is but, as it were, the poetry of indignation. It is only when 
they reek, like acrid fumes from the poisoned crucible of mean and 
loveless conceptions, that we see them in all their intolerable ghastli- 
ness." — Farrar. 

26. He also speaks of the "Tartarean drench" in which "the 
imagination of Bishop Jeremy Taylor revels as he pours it over his 
lurid page." (Jeremy Taylor, Works VII; 24, Eden's Edition.) 
"We omit this 'horrible drench,' yet the works of this eminent divine 
and theologian have many beautiful things which may possibly make 
it endurable!" But does the fountain from the same cleft discharge 
both the sweet and the bitter? (Jas. 3: 9-12), both the true and the 
false? — Alas! Yes. The challenge to humanity of this dispensation 
is, Prove all things, hold fast the noble, and refrain from all forms of 
spiritual wickedness (that is, hypocrisy in gospel preaching). (I 
Thess. 5 : 22.) 

27. So wrote Tertullian centuries ago — and I quote the passage 
for its ghastly ingenuity. (Farrar would not soil his page with this 
further than to print it in Latin.) "Have not similar strains been 



1 66 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

uttered ever since by those who maintain the popular doctrine?" (At 
the mention of Jonathan Edwards the Canon is moved to soil his page 
with the English words. Here's the blot! "Where have they refused 
to endorse the sentiments of his horribly revolting sermon," "Sinners 
in the hand of an angry God?" "The God that holds you over the 
pit of hell much in the same way as one holds a spider, or some loath- 
some insect over the fire." 

28. Surely if you hold it, speak it out, but if you do not, then 
repudiate it. Even Shakespeare says "Yea" and "Nay" is poor 
divinity. 

29. Pictures of hell which curdle the blood with horror and 
thrill the soul with indignation are not peculiar to any age, and 
passages of Tertullian and Minucius Felix, or the Elucidarium usually 
printed with the works of Anselm, are as frightfully blasphemous 
against the God of Love as those in the "Contemplation of the State 
of Man," erroneously ascribed to Jeremy Taylor. With these, in 
charity, I will not stain my page. (It is rather badly stained as it is.) 
In modern days, I give one extract from Jonathan Edwards: 

30. "The world will probably be converted into a great lake 
or liquid globe of fire, in which the wicked will be overwhelmed; 
which shall always be in tempest, in which they shall be tossed to and 
fro, having no rest day or night; vast waves or billows of fire con- 
tinually rolling over their heads, of which they shall ever be full of 
a quick sense within and without ; their heads, their eyes, their tongues, 
their hands, their feet, their loins, and their vitals shall forever be 
full of a glowing, melting fire, enough to melt the very rocks and 
elements, and they shall be full of the most quick and lively sense to 
feel the torment; not for ten millions of ages, but forever and ever, 
without any end at all," etc., etc. 

31. Now do you believe this ? Do you enjoy it? Is Jesus Christ 
to be forever engaged in this work of vengeance? If you do not be- 
lieve it, why not challenge its claim to be called theology ? Is it out of 
date? — No. Rev. R. A. Torrey, D. D., Dean of the Bible Institute of 
Los Angeles, keeps it up. (See pamphlet published in 191 8, "The 
Exact Truth Regarding an Eternal Hell," and the Rev. James M. 
Gray, D. D., Dean of the Chicago Bible Institute, a pamphlet on 
"The Future Retribution of the Wicked.") 

32. At a World Conference on Christian Fundamentals, June, 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 67 

1920, Dr. F. W. Farr, on "the penalty of sin," made these points, 
among others: 

Eternal death is a positive retributive penalty for sin, executed 
personally by God upon the body and soul of the sinner. 

Men sin eternally, and they must therefore suffer eternal punish- 
ment. There can be no repentance in Hell. 

Retributive justice is demanded by the moral LAW. Justice is 
imperative. Justice prevails on the throne and Mercy can only plead. 

The eternal punishment of the sinner tends to promote the holi- 
ness of the holy. 

Finally! the power of the pulpit requires it! 

Hell is a monument to the love of God. His prayer had this 
petition, "May Thy servants cling with one hand to the cross, while 
with the other they lift some drowning soul from the pit of Hell." 

33. There are minds so pitched that the horrible has a fright- 
ful fascination, even while they deprecate it, men and women alike. 
"I shake off the hideous incubus of atrocious conceptions. I mean 
those conceptions of unimaginable horror and physical excruciation 
endlessly prolonged, attached by popular ignorance and false theology 
to the doctrine of future retribution. But neither do I dogmatize 
on the other side." Why not omit all this indignant language and 
calmly note that if it is false it will disappear in the light of the Truth. 
For a lie is a negative ; it has no real existence ; even the absurd Chris- 
tian Science can see that. 

34. "Owing to Augustine's System, the entire Medieval Church 
held the doctrine of the damnation of infants dying unbaptized." 
"Without natural affection" is one count in the degradation of the 
truth of Natural Religion. (Rom. 1:31.) But human nature, not 
so utterly degraded, has refused in these modern years to bow to 
assumed ecclesiastical authorities who would continue this horror. 
These authorities have lost much of their power because, according to 
Scripture, the world is far gone toward the lawlessness of the end. 
So much the more need that recourse be had to the law and to the 
testimony. Individuals must discern the truth for themselves and 
not trust to selfish, interested intermediaries. "Friends, do not be- 
lieve every thinker; but test the teachings, whether they emanate 
from God." (I John 4: 1-3.) 

35. A description of Hell is a great pitfall for professional 
talkers, it can be made so thrilling! This may explain the tendency 



1 68 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

to exaggerate that almost invariably accompanies this subject. "Hell" 
is held in the creed accepted by thousands of preachers who have no 
practical pulpit use for the doctrine, for they do not mention it. It 
is not simply an academic question ; it relates to the character of God. 
It is "life" to know God. Divine doctrines are not to be "held" 
merely. They are to hold us. Does Hell-fire grip your heart and pro- 
duce the Divine fruit? It cannot do so if it is not the Scripture truth. 
Here is a place to exercise your spiritual senses until you have an 
intelligent, thoroughly Biblical and heart-moving view of the Divine 
purpose in the progressive work and ultimate success of His Son, 
"sent" to be the Savior of the world. 

36. Contrast the words of Jesus, Stephen, Moses, Paul, in Luke 
23 : 34, Acts 7 : 60, Ex. 32 : 32, Rom. 9:3, on punishment, with those 
here reproduced, which are but a sample only. 

37. This is more than enough of the horrors of hell, and now 
we will see how the idea has been mitigated in an apologetic way by 
those who still hold to future retribution. 

38. The Roman Church alleviates the doctrine of hell by teach- 
ing that there are purifying agencies which may be used between death 
and judgment, which will, in addition to the redeeming work of 
Christ, of sacrament, and of prayers and masses, fit the average man 
for some portion, greater or smaller, in the bliss of a,sectarian heaven. 
And it is amazing how this purgatorial idea is taken up by writers in 
many different sects. As if the birth from above, "not of man or the 
will of man but of God," needed supplementing. This purgatorial 
idea is prevalent. In all kinds of churches we hear exhortation about 
"fitness for heaven." Augustine prayed "for those who have not 
fallen utterly from grace." Souls in purgatory may be helped by 
prayer, and by the "sacrificium altaris" for all souls! "for the very 
good, they are thanksgivings; for the not very bad, they are propitia- 
tions; for the very bad, even though they are of no avail for the dead, 
they are some consolation for the living." 

39. "Purgatory only for the very small sins (Matt. 12:36), 
the idle word, or immoderate laughter," and for those only who have 
deserved remission by their good deeds. Not even the "mitigations" 
of Augustine are left, for he teaches a progressive increase in guilt 
and therefore in punishment. — Gregory, the Great (on Job 8: 8-10). 

40. "Nay who art thou, who on thy bench dost sit, 

To judge with thy short vision of a span, 

The thousand miles of distance infinite?" — Dante. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 69 

41. Instead of going to the authoritative word, creed has been 
fought with creed, a rotten church has been "reformed" instead of 
being repudiated. The Reformed churches, in order to put Purgatory 
out of the creed, ignored any condition intermediate between death and 
the traditional judgment day. They made a creed that has a man's 
destiny, heaven or hell, settled when he dies, and a judgment then that 
results in salvation for the righteous and damnation for the un- 
righteous. 

42. "I embraced in my heart all that is called man, past, present, 
future, times and nations, the damned, even Satan. I (great big I) 
presented them to God (a small God) with the warmest wishes that 
He would have mercy upon all." This language of unbelief and 
ignorance and self-importance is repeated over and over until one 
asks indeed, "Will He find the faith upon the earth?" 

43. A burial service that says over the dead, though ignorant of 
his life and character, "as our hope is that this, our brother, doth," — 
Pusey says, "We know not what God may do in one agony of loving 
penitence for one who accepts his last grace in that almost sacrament 
of death." Dante makes one small tear rescue a soul from "him of 
Hell for Him of Heaven." We find this whole subject saturated 
with legalism and wonder why these theologians, who must know the 
gospel, can systematize it and put it on the shelf as of no practical 
value, as they do in this connection. 

44. "That it may please Thee to have mercy upon all men, we 
beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord." (Aside, "We know you will 
not do it, but it makes us feel good to think we are more merciful 
than you.") 

45. Farrar endorses the view of Pusey and Newman that "there 
are innumerable degrees of grace and sanctity among the saved." He 
asks also, "If the daily teaching of all religious teachers be true, are 
ordinary men and ordinary boys, living the ordinary life of men and 
boys, fit to go straight to heaven ? And yet will they go straight hence 
under the irrevocable doom of an endless hell?" You see if you have 
a weak Gospel, you need a purgatory. 

46. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1784) also voices the legal idea that 
some die for whom heaven is too good and hell too bad. And as they 
have not been made meet by the blood of Christ, a laundry that will 
cleanse from guilty stains is necessary. So Perrone (1835) and New- 



I70 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

man, Bishop Martensen, Bishop Forbes of Breslin, "seemingly ripe 
neither for heaven or hell." 

47. "Men and women are asking these questions and if we of 
the clergy [men, women and clergymen?] tell them that the words 
of Scripture and the integral doctrines of Christianity demand 
the same notions of moral retribution as were current in the days 
when men racked criminals, burned heretics alive, and believed that 
every Mussulman that they slaughtered in a crusade went straight to 
endless torments, then evil times will come, both for the clergy and 
the Christian religion, for many a year henceforth." — Canon Kingsley. 

48. Bishop Moorhouse, of Melbourne, "the 41st and 42d Articles 
(of the Church of England against Millennarians and Universalism) 
were withdrawn because the church, knowing that men like Justin 
Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian were Millennarians, and men like 
Origen, Clemens of Alexandria, and Gregory of Nyssa were Uni- 
versalists, refused to dogmatize on such questions." 

49. Plumptre seizes upon the "preaching to spirits in prison (I 
Peter 3: 19) ; Gospel preached to the dead (4:6); baptized for the 
dead (I Cor. 15:29) ; and the common practice of prayers for the 
dead; which were not condemned at least," to show the possibilities 
of repentance and forgiveness in the intermediate state. All of which 
is very dubious. See elsewhere, II Tim. 1 : 16 and 4: 19. Onesipho- 
rus may have been dead ? 

50. We may ask, Why the descent into Hades? and how? Was 
it in body or spirit ? And when ? During the three days or after His 
resurrection? 

51. "The Bible has many half and half truths, such as Univer- 
salism and Endless Punishment; foreknowledge and free-will; elec- 
tion forfeited so that it is impossible to renew the fallen to 
repentance," also "half-drawn to trust the Larger Hope," "He 

ascended into Heaven from Hades. Like Abraham His presence 
there was a 'taking possession'." — Plumptre. 

52. Augustine makes this confession, "Purge me in this life, and 
make me such that there may be no further need of the amending fire." 

53. Farrar quotes from the following as conceding his position 
of "Eternal Hope." 

Clemens, of Alexandria, about A. D. 218, every knee bend. 
Eusebius, of Gaul, about A. D. 371. 
Ambrose, about A. D. 397. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 71 

Augustine, about A. D. 430, Purgatorial. 

Paulinus of Nola, about A. D. 431. 

Methodins, third Century. 

Theodoret, 458. 

Sybylline Books (Orac. 1131). 

Isidore, 633. 

Johannes Scotus Erigena, 883. 

Theophylact, 107 1. 

Anselm, 1109. 

Thomas Aquinas, 1274. 

Luther, 1546. 

Coelius Secundus Curio, Professor of Theology at Basle, 1569. 

Valentin Weigel, Mystic, 1588. 

Suarez, 161 7. 

Simon Episcopius, 1643. 

Denis Petan (Petavius), 1652. 

Bishop Jeremy Taylor, 1667. 

Dr. Henry More, 1688. 

54. "They may judge if this please them, that the pains of the 
damned are at certain intervals of time in some measure mitigated." — 
"Holidays in Hell?" — Augustine. 

55. This is exemplified by having Judas, whom these judges 
have decided is bad enough for hell-fire, allowed once a year to go out 
and sit on an iceberg. If all this kind of rot does not at once show to 
you the unscriptural tone of a fleshly mind, then your spiritual senses 
are drugged. (Heb. 5: 14.) 

56. The Legend of St. Brendan. On an iceberg one day Brendan 

discovered a miserable figure and recognized the "traitor Judas out 

of hell," who cries: 

"One moment! Wait! Thou holy man! 
On earth my crime, — my death, — they knew; 
My name is under all men's ban; 
Be told then of my respite too:" 

Because of one good deed, the gift of a cloak to a poor leper at 

Joppa, 

"Once every year when carols wake 
On earth the Christian's night's repose, 
Arising from the sinner's lake, 
I journey to these healing snows." 

57. The poet Habingdon allows Judas this alleviation. 



172 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

58. "The bright side of hell" (F. W. Faber). 

59. The Bishop of Belley describes the damned as joining in 
unanimous hymns in honor of that mercy in consequence of which 
they are not consumed. 

60. Bickersteth represents "hell" as almost a holy, and there- 
fore a happy, place. So Ambrose. 

61. Matt. 12:32, Some sins therefore are remitted in "the eon 
to come." 

62. Here is a speculation by Robert Anderson on the general 
line of "How to be Happy in Hell:" "In God's great prison-house 
is idleness to reign supreme? The treadmill, which in former times 
served only to grind the air, is in our day used for good and useful 
purposes; are we to suppose that all the energies of the lost are to be 
consumed in tasks of aimless punishment? [Efficiency! is the fashion 
today.] God has told us of their punishment, for that is all that con- 
cerns us to know, but nowhere has He said that it is for punishment 
alone they shall exist. If throughout creation every creature seems 
to have its mission, why should we assume it will be otherwise in 
hell? It were but folly to press this speculation any further. But, 
there is no spot in all the Queen's dominions in which the reign of 
order is so supreme as in a prison. So shall it be in hell. ... It may 
be that the recognition of the perfect justice and goodness of God will 
lead the lost to accept their doom. Possibly, too, the poet's dream 
may yet be realized, that Divine love shall shine out so clearly even 
amid the fires of judgment that when the anthem rises in the palace- 
home of God, even the prison-house shall join in the refrain, and 
praise shall issue forth from hell. Speculations such as these are per- 
fectly legitimate in poetry, but they should have no place in the sober 
prose of theology." It is said that a lie is at the bottom of a joke, 
and it here seems that something funny can be said on this most grue- 
some subject. "It is but a step - — ." The incongruity will at least 
justify a smile. Perhaps the angels laugh out loud. 

63. Farrar's eloquent efforts for a "wider hope" result only in 
the reduction of eternally lost sinners to "a small but desperate minor- 
ity." Whereupon Anderson retorts, "If indeed there be hope beyond 
the grave, Divine love will most surely reach forth for the very class 
He has singled out as possible victims of the most hopeless doom. The 
wretched offspring of depraved and vicious parents, this world has 
been no better than a hell to them from cradled infancy. If there be 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 173 

after mercy for the pampered sinners of the synagogue, shall it be 
denied to these poor outcasts of humanity?" And both parties seem 
to wander in the twilight. 

64. Jeremy Taylor wavers, and after these ebullient flashes of 
systematic Hellology, is constrained to this modification, "Though the 
fire is everlasting, not all that enters it is everlasting," and also, which 
is more important, he says that "the word everlasting signifies only 
to the end of its proper period." — Jeremy Taylor s Works, VIII, p. 43- 

65. Dante believed in that "willing agony" of Purgatory, into 
which poor souls might gladly plunge, assured that at last, redeemed 
and purified, they too should pass into their paradisal rest. 

66. "All that can be positively asserted to be matter of mere 
revelation with regard to this doctrine (Purgatory), seems to be that 
the great distinction between the righteous and the wicked shall be 
made (not, be it observed, at death, but) at the end of this world; that 
each shall then receive according to his deserts." (Butler, Analogy 
1, 2, note.) And the Bishop leaves us with this indefinite phrase. Did 
he know that "the end of this eon (not world) was the beginning of 
the Millennial Eon ?" 

67. F. D. Maurice was indicted by Dr. Jelf and dismissed from 
his professorial chair, but not from his office and ministry as a preacher, 
on the charges: (ist) That he maintained that our Lord had ex- 
cluded the "notion of duration" from the word "eternal." (2d) That 
the limit of man's life does not limit the compassion of the Father of 
Spirits. (3d) That we want that clear, broad assertion of the Divine 
charity, which the Bible makes, and which carries us immeasurably 
beyond all that we can ask or think. In which Jelf saw a denial of 
the eternity of future punishment, or, at least, "a doubt cast upon the 
simple meaning of the word eternal, and a general notion of ultimate 
salvation for all." 

68. Our feelings may be wrought up by the linguistic literature 
which revels in diabolical exaggerations of the horrible, under the 
cover that thus only can the mind be convicted of the sinfulness of 
sin ; but let us, as we may, assuage these feelings by the thought that 
those who write such things are led on by the self-hypnotism of com- 
position (cacoethes scribendi), or argumentative partizanship to say 
what they may hold academically, but which does not hold them in 
blessed obedience of faith. 

69. That some of God's rational and self-determined creatures 



174 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

will forever be in deadly enmity to Him, cannot be thought of without 
sorrow and awe. It is a possibility. — Shedd. 

70. What can be said on universal reconciliation as a motive? 
Men do not naturally believe it at first, but when they so perceive it, 
there is no stronger notion, for it is based on the exceeding riches of 
grace. 

71. Happily the thoughts and hearts of men are often far gentler 
than the formulae of their creeds; and custom and tradition prevent 
even the greatest from facing the full meaning and consequences 
of the words they use. — Farrar. 

72. Few would confess that they did not wish that all might be 
saved, as it is God's will. (I Tim. 2 : 4.) The English church prays 
"that it may please Thee to have mercy upon all men." We pray 
for this. (Not believing that the request will be granted.) 

73. "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Test 
your faith now. Was this prayer granted in full, partially, or not at 
all, and will some of these Jerusalem sinners find endless punishment 
for sin? It is easy to believe that they were forgiven for crucifying, 
but not for unbelief. 

74. Playfere, "If to have raised out of the womb of faultless 
and unoffending nothing infinite myriads of men into a condition from 
which, unthinking, they should unavoidably drop into eternal unutter- 
able sorrows, be consistent with goodness, contradictions may be true, 
and all rational deductions but a dream." Better, All things are out 
of God (not from "nothing") and through God, and unto God (Rom. 
11:36). (Not into punishment.) 

75. Dean Gray writes, "Is Jesus Christ a trifler? Is He ca- 
pable of such awful utterances, — Hell, torment, anguish, flame, — well 
knowing that there is neither reality nor truth behind them? — a sense 
of pain, a sense of loss, a sense of memory. It is eternal because, 
"between us and you there is a great gulf fixed." "These shall go 
away into everlasting (eonian) punishment," — the punishment is 
eternal. "It almost paralyzes the hand to write it or makes the tongue 
cleave to the roof of the mouth to speak it. But there seems no 
escape." It is interesting to note that the Doctor shrinks from his 
thought as he certainly need not if it is true. He says elsewhere, "The 
doctrine is so disagreeable to think about — it is hard to preach it with 
tenderness, — it is stoutly resented by human nature, — many who hold 
it do not preach it because they discount its value as a motive." (But 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 75 

see Gray's inconsistent appeal to natural pagan religions, all of which 
have it in creed and testimony.) 

76. How hard it is for the exhorter to pronounce the word "hell" 
without an emphasis that suggests an artistic oratorical relish? 

77. "Men who, having got easy ways of assuring themselves it 
shall not be their portion, do as little pity those calamitous souls 
whose lot it may be, as, they darkly fancy, God Himself does." — 
Bishop Rust. 

78. Anderson "admits" that "the New Testament unfolds an 
'economy of times and seasons,' many ages heading up in one great 
'age,' within which all the manifold purposes of God in relation to 
earth shall be fulfilled. Here these words (eon, age) are applicable 
and are used." This, while in the right line, is misleading by its in- 
definiteness. Not many ages, but five; not only earth, but the universe 
(see diagram). "The eonian" scholarship of Christendom has recog- 
nized that they are used to express eternity in its fullest sense. That 
is, "eon" means "age," a limited portion of time, but finite scholarship, 
having a comprehension of eternity in its fullest infinite sense, has 
decided that this limited "e-o-n" shall be saddled with an unlimited 
sense, in spite of the fact that there is no text of all the 652 but what 
gives a clear and harmonious revelation without it. Concerning 
"eonian," which could not be used to express infinite duration be- 
cause applied to what w T as material or transitory, Anderson says, 
"What is true of most w^ords is true in a special degree of these; 
chameleon like, they take a color from what they touch, and their 
significance must in every case be settled by the subject matter and 
the context," — which should be taken with a grain of salt. 

79. William H. Newell voices a common definition of eonian: 
"When it occurs in connection with anything that is in its nature 
limited, it has a limited meaning, and when it occurs with anything 
that is unlimited in its nature, it has an unlimited meaning." This 
is easily tested. "Eonian God;" the argument makes Eonian un- 
limited because God is unlimited. Now in "Lord of the Sabbath," 
does "sabbath" limit the Lord? or does the "Lord" make the Sabbath 
unlimited? "God manifest in flesh;" does it make flesh unlimited or 
speak of this humiliation of the Son as permanent, with no return to 
His own proper glory? 

80. There are these continually recurring expressions, "final char- 
acter," "final destiny," "finally impenitent." Where does it come 

12 



176 



CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 



from? What does it mean? Does this finality come at the end of 
eternity? Final destiny? Final character? Final choice, after 
which free-will is paralyzed. Did Saul of Tarsus repent and choose, 
or did his free-will follow knowledge ? All the dead who stand before 
the Great White Throne are there more ignorant than Saul. Was 
the issue in Saul's case sin? It could not have been final impenitent 
rejection of God. Why, when the Jews receive the Son of David, 
they will be saved. "Forever" and ever (and ever, ad infinitum) . 
If forever is endless, what does "endless and beyond" mean? How 
can there be something beyond endlessness? And what is "an abso- 
lutely endless eternity?" God's word does not tolerate ambiguous 
expressions like this, nor does the free mind of man feel tolerant of 
dogmatic assertions which have this appendix, "Beyond this I know 
nothing and there is nothing to be known." If we are to learn from 
God, there must be a reception room where new truths can be en- 
tertained. Here is the condemnation of sectarian limitation in the 
form of creed ; all outside the fence is heretical, whether true or false. 

81. Dr. White, a chaplain (17 12): "As sin and death were 
not brought in at first, so it is certain that they shall not be the end; 
for grace is the beginning of all, and the end must be grace also! 
There are some who hold this incongruous idea that what God begun 
in grace he ends with wrath. Having begun to build, was He not able 
to finish? Rather He that having counted the cost, the Originator 
of a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 
(Phil. 1:6.) Note the absence of the sempiternity that finite minds 
would swell up with. The day of Christ Jesus is the Omega, the end 
of his eonian work. 

82. Bishop Butler says (1752), "Virtue is militant here, but it 
may combat with greater advantage hereafter." 

83. Theodoret, the Blessed (458), "For the Lord, who loves 
man, punishes medicinally that he may check the course of impiety." 
(Horn., Ezek. 6:6.) 

84. Scotus, "Absurd to think that Christ saved only a fraction 
of mankind." (V. 27.) His fifth book is a profound argument for 
the universal restoration of mankind. 

85. Anselm, "God demands from no sinner more than he owes; 
but since no one can pay as much as he owes, Christ alone paid for 
all more than the debt due!" 

86. Why does God represent His love, His grace, His mercy, 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 77 

with such abundant expression if He did not expect man to count 
upon it, and not for self alone? 

87. Dean Gray is asked, "How harmonize the endless misery 
with the character of God?" "First," he says, "it is not our business 
to do so. How do we know God's character except from the Bible? 
If the Bible tells us that God is Love and that He will thus punish the 
wicked, what further harmonizing is necessary?" Second (question 
for question), "How can you harmonize love and evil?" Third (and 
here is his answer), "God's love includes ( ?) justice, and justice in its 
very nature demands the punishment of sin." But in another place 
he says, "Christ's death paid the penalty of the broken law." Yes, 
truly the transgression of the law is sin ; the penalty is death. Christ 
paid it. Where is the justice of demanding eternal torment as an 
additional penalty? Some dodge this simple conclusion one way and 
some another. Here is the Dean's way. Answering the question, 
"What is the unpardonable sin?" he cites Matt. 12: 31, 32; Heb. 
6: 4-6; I John 5: 16; "no matter what else it consists in, it certainly 
does in this, viz. : The man who dies unsaved notwithstanding Christ 
has been offered to him as a Savior, commits the unpardonable sin. 
There is no forgiveness or salvation for him in the world to come." 

88. "This is life that we may know God," may have a knowl- 
edge of His character. Now, if Christ adjudges men to endless tor- 
ment for sin, this should reveal His character. If Christ, to whom 
all judgment is committed, annihilates the wicked, this reveals a God 
of another character. And if the Son "sent forth" fulfils his mission 
in a reconciled universe, then we have God of another character. God 
is known by the judgment He executes. Once again, does not the 
judgment at Calvary negative all additional demand for penalty? Is 
not justice fully satisfied there? And it is a very pertinent question 
to ask, How can God's love harmonize with endless law, sin, death, 
and torment? It is the false translation, biased by a false church, and 
preconceived ideas, that introduces discord between God's character 
and His dealing with His ignorant and unbelieving creatures. "They 
shall all be taught of God." Wait until school is out before you talk 
of insoluble discords. You will see, however, in the Dean's answers, 
that the unpardonable sin is the last line of defense of endless torment 
as penalty. And it is also based on a great big "if." It is not only 
assumed, it is dogmatically asserted, that some will reject Christ after 



I78 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

they have known Him, "Whom to know is life." There is no Divine 
authority for this. 

89. From Tertullian down, trite rhetoric has repeatedly talked 
of the impossibility of the supposition that there will be no difference 
between a John and a Judas, a Jezebel and a Virgin Mary. It only 
shows that it is impossible for the natural man to repudiate law and 
believe in the grace of this dispensation. 

90. Anderson complains of Cox's "Salvator Mundi;" "Of the 
vital and characteristic truths of our religion there is not so much as 
one which it does not ignore or deny. The righteousness of God, the 
Grace of God, man's ruin, redemption through the blood of Christ, 
the forgiveness of sins, the justification of the believer by grace through 
redemption, eternal (eonian) life as the free gift of God." But, also, 
as you look through the argument for endless torment for sin, you 
will find nothing whatever but the law as seen from the viewpoint 
of Natural Religion, and not the ignoring of redemption only, but 
the denial of its value. On all sides it is a forensic discussion of 
penalty for sin, regardless of its harmonious relation to the whole 
revelation of God. What with the handicaps of sect loyalty, of a 
limited program, of systematic theology, of Natural Religion, and 
pagan philosophy, and zest of polemics, zeal for God without knowl- 
edge, it is only the vital nature of the Truth, whatever it is, that the 
subject continues to be interesting to human beings. Eliminate the 
chaff from your own theological output. 

91. Beliefs, both true and erroneous, sanctioned by Church and 
State, have been challenged from Babel to Berlin. The truth has 
been perverted, the lie has been exposed. Nimrod was followed by 
Pharaoh, Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Rab-Shakeh, and the Beast; 
Abraham, by John the Baptist, Stephen, and many a martyr. Julian 
challenged Christianity, and Protestantism challenged Rome. Dis- 
senters challenge Anglicanism, and the spiritual church challenges the 
carnal institutions. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit 
against the flesh. In these conflicts there must come a crisis, after 
which one will possess the field to the exclusion of the other. Does 
not the wholly legal sphere in which the argument for endless punish- 
ment moves, veil the glory of Paul's ministry of grace? And yet the 
complaint is made that Farrar, Cox and Plumptre make no reference 
to gospel doctrines. Both parties seem to ignore fundamental truths 
when they make "retribution" the keyword. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 179 

92. "Lord both of the dead and living." "For Life is ever Lord 
of Death, and love can never lose its own." 

93. "The Bible teaches that there will always be some sin, some 
death in the Universe," so says the Professor of Systematic Theology. 

94. Dr. Shedd writes, "Those who believe that there is a hell, 
and intelligently fear it, will escape it ; and those who deny that there 
is a hell and ridicule it, will fall into it." This is systematic theology. 
The next statement is, "The dogmatic bearings of Universalism are 
not to be overlooked. The rejection of the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment cuts the ground from under the gospel. It blots out the attribute 
(?) of retributive justice. The attempt to retain the evangelical 
theology (systematic?) in connection with it is futile." Later in his 
book the Doctor gives us a better gospel than "fear hell and you will 
escape it." But here he goes on, "If there were no such thing as end- 
less punishment, havoc would be made of all the liturgies of the 
church, as well as of its literature." "Take out the doctrine of 
eternal perdition and the antithetic doctrine of salvation, and what is 
left?" There is nothing left but God and His love, Christ and His 
gracious work, and the Bible. If the Church were gone, that would 
be one enemy of the Bible the less. (See Robert Anderson's "Bible or 
the Church.") A present purgatory for organized Christendom would 
be a busy institution. 

95. Anderson takes as admitted the false position of Christen- 
dom "that the many die unsaved, and that these shall be raised from 
the dead, and shall stand before God in judgment, and be remitted 
(where to?) to punishment for their sins. The question here is not of 
what may be called the providential consequences of sin, the results 
which in God's moral government follow the violation of his laws. 
Neither is it a question of corrective discipline to purge and train the 
penitent. There is no need of a Day of Judgment to apportion pun- 
ishment in either of these senses ; the one follows the sin by unchanging 
law; the other belongs entirely to the Father's house. The final 
punishment of the lost will be the consequence of a judicial sentence. 
Such punishment, therefore, must be the penalty due to their sins; 
else it w T ere unrighteous to impose it. If then the lost are ultimately 
to be saved, it must be either because they shall have satisfied the 
penalty; or else through redemption Christ has borne the penalty for 
them." On the next leaf, Anderson says, "The advocates of the 
larger hope seem to ignore the penal element." 



l8o CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

96. Consider this strange inconsistency in a writer who has given 
us clear Scripture doctrine expressed in clear language in his book, 
"The Gospel and Its Ministry." "But where," he says, "does Scrip- 
ture teach that everlasting torment is the penalty for sin? DEATH 
is the penalty of sin." (This is clear and Scriptural, but what shall we 
say of what immediately follows?) "Instead of absolute equality, 
Scripture indicates an infinite inequality of punishment!" He recog- 
nizes penalty and punishment as synonymous, but this is the way he 
proceeds: "There will be the 'few stripes' and the 'many stripes'." 
"God will render to each one according to his deeds. Surely the dis- 
tinction is obvious and simple between the general penalty of sin, 
which depends on the essential character of a God who cannot tolerate 
evil in His presence, and the special kind and measure of punishment 
which the Righteous Judge will impose on each, according to the 
degree and nature of his guilt." This may be "obvious and simple" 
to a lawyer, but for the common people it needs elucidation. "General 
penalty" and "special penalty," and then he admits (pp. 52, 154), 
"Sin's penalty has indeed been borne by Christ." Yes, here is his way 
out, and many walk in it. "But the sufferings of the sin-bearer did 
not include the rejection of the atonement." There is more than one 
objection to this and the analogous statement that "the unpardonable 
sin is unbelief." 

97. They go back to Judaism for confirmation and hail such 
language as this, "A man's advocates {paracletes) are repentance and 
good works. And if 999 plead against him, and only one for him, he 
is spared, as it is said (Job 33:23). If there be an interceding 
angel, one among a thousand to declare for man his uprightness, then 
He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to 
the pit." — Rabbis Albo and Saadjah. 

98. "Finally impenitent," "ultimate destiny," "endless punish- 
ment" — These expressions show the mind of man has no idea of what 
he means by eternity as he defines it. For, if eternity is what they 
say it is, nothing can be "final," no destiny can be "ultimate" and a 
punishment that has no end leaves justice endlessly unsatisfied. It is 
only the trained masters of words that do not fall into these incon- 
sistencies. 

99. Origen taught the perpetual freedom of the will, and there- 
fore no limit to the possibility of repentance and restoration. Why 
not? If a man's sins merit endless penalty? on what righteous basis 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS l8l 

can any one sinner be saved that does not obtain endlessly? Is free- 
will, self-determination or whatever you call it, taken away after one 
has passed a certain point? And what is that point? God is not will- 
ing that any should perish ; does He become willing just because a man 
dies? Men, from Plato to Pastor Russell, have thought of every con- 
ceivable thing on this subject. If any new light comes, "it must be 
from the Bible." 

ioo. Gregory, of Nyassa, "When there shall no longer be a 
sinner in the Universe" — "the war between good and evil shall end." 
"Shall the leader of the good leave the field with a large number of 
evil things unconquered ?" "The nature of evil shall pass into nothing- 
ness, and the divine and unmingled goodness shall embrace all in- 
telligent existences." 

i Oi. Anderson gives us the following, "Every sinner at the great 
assize shall hear his indictment, and be heard in his defense. How long 
time, then, shall be allowed to each? Suppose less than one-quarter of 
an hour. Assume a continuous session till all have been heard. It 
will take One Hundred Thousand years for the living of each century. 
Multiply this by sixty for the past and estimate the future, and it 
might take ten to twelve million years. That some fallacy underlies 
the problem the very statement of it proves ; but wherein that fallacy 
consists we cannot tell." (Pardon, gentle reader, this waste of clean 
white paper, but is your own page quite clean?) 

102. The shame of unnecessary ignorance should be theirs who 
in zeal for the truth of reconciliation would make souls fit by pains 
and penalties, torments, remorse, or any evil condition. It is all of 
God who in His Love and Power and Wisdom says, Grace reigns in 
a gospel apart from law, sin, and death. It is a resurrection gospel 
where all evil has passed away, and where all are alive in Christ, that 
makes the creature meet to be partaker of the inheritance in Light. 

103. As to "Hell, Damnation, Everlasting, in the notion which 
all uneducated persons attach to them ; substitute for these three words 
the true translations, and I ask you, my brethren, where would be 
these popular teachings about hell, the kind quoted and described?" to 
"damn" is to condemn; "eonian" is age long. — Farrar. 

104. "The immortality of the soul." Modern Bereans would 
do well to come to a definite Scripture view of immortality. The 
centuries have failed to bring about unity of belief in this matter. The 
exact truth is to be gathered from Divine revelation alone, and diver- 



1 82 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 



/ 



sity of opinion is the result of human limitations which make man's 
thoughts differ from God's thoughts. Dr. Beet says, "The doctrine 
almost universally accepted is alien to the Bible in both phrase and 
thought, and is derived only from Greek philosophy." The Bible 
Institute of Los Angeles publishes this statement, "We hold . . . the 
common creed of Evangelical Christendom and including . . . 
"Immortality of the soul" as one of fourteen doctrines specially 
mentioned. 

105. True, a believer might confess in the words of this Platonian 
idea, with a mental reservation that makes it mean "in Christ the risen 
Head of the New Creation," but the philosophical phrase is seldom 
thus modified. As Plato reasoned, and as Addison has his Cato, con- 
templating suicide, say, "Plato, thou reasonest well, it must be so," 
immortality was a conclusion reached apart from Christ; it was in- 
herent in the descendants of Adam. If this dictum of Plato and Dr. 
Torrey is Scriptural, it must be clearly shown to be so; it is too im- 
portant to be accepted as "assumed" or "implied." Divine authority 
is what the believer must have for his belief. The Platonian argument 
is just as valid for pre-existence of the soul as it is for its post-exis- 
tence. Socrates says to Plato, "Your favorite doctrine that knowledge 
is simply recollection implies a previous time in which we have learnt 
that which we now recollect, hence our soul must have been in some 
place before existing in the human form." This human argument, 
then, is invalidated by the limitations of the human intellect. We 
must learn from God, but that requires faith. "He that cometh to 
God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that 
diligently seek Him." 

106. Christendom has appropriated the gem of these Greek 
philosophers, but has ignored the setting. There may be some who 
would follow Socrates when he continues, "The soul which has 
learned the lessons of philosophy goes at death to the divine and im- 
mortal and rational, and dwells in peace; the sensual are dragged 
down into gloom until they are imprisoned in another body appro- 
priate to their former lives. Gluttons, wantons, drunkards, — will 
probably pass into asses and beasts of that sort. The unjust, the 
tyrant, and the violent will pass into wolves or hawks or kites." "The 
true philosopher has no need to fear that at death his soul shall cease 
to be." For these philosophies Plato and Socrates and Aristotle are 
still held in high honor. Christendom may take this in and add to 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 83 

it the resurrection of the body, but it is Christianity without Christ. 
The believer has but to read, "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall 
all be made alive," and all this painful groping, ancient and modern, 
can be dismissed. Why, then, recall it? Because so many are caught 
in the snare of man's wisdom, and seem to be unable to see the force 
of the simple satisfactory Divine statement. 

107. As to detail, Plato concludes "that those guilty of great 
crimes will be cast into Tartarus, whence they will never go out ; that 
those less guilty will be cast into Tartarus for a time, and then if their 
victim take pity on them they will be allowed to escape, and that the 
righteous will go to the mansions of the blessed." Plato's "Republic" 
ends with a judgment in which "all men, good and bad, receive be- 
yond death exact retribution according to their works." These reason- 
ings are all within the sphere of natural religion and deserve recog- 
nition as the "groping" of noble minds. But after "Light and 
immortality are brought to light through the gospel," it is inexcusable 
for believers to cling to these misleading, statements which express the 
conclusions of the natural man only. 

108. If "in Adam all die," then there is no immortality in Adam. 
If "in Christ all be made alive," then all future existence must be on 
that basis. This might be easily accepted, so far as resurrection goes. 
But this question remains, Dr. Haley says, "Virtue is not suitably re- 
warded nor vice fully punished in this world; this is obvious. We 
instinctively feel the need of a future state to complement the present, 
to meet the demands of conscience and vindicate the wisdom and 
justice of Divine Government." This statement would indicate that its 
author makes little or no account of the Gospel of God. If God was 
not vindicated at the cross, no amount of penal misery would help 
His reputation. Zeal, what for? Law or Gospel? 

109. "Christ, the first-born." He was born, lived, suffered, 
worked, rejoiced, witnessed, died and rose again; He is the surety of 
immortality to man. 

no. "Lord of the Dead." 

"For life is ever Lord of Death, 
And Love can never lose its own." 

in. Thus Death is the opening of a more subtle life. In the 
flower, it sets free the perfume; in the chrysalis, the butterfly; in man, 
the new soul nature. — Juliette Adam. 



184 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

112. "Brought life and incorruptibility to light." "It is not 
the grave that needs the illumination, but the inmost soul of man. 
Man carries his "light and his darkness within himself; the grave is 
just as bright as the fireside for the soul that is kindled with the 
love of God, of Christ, of truth, and purity and righteousness." — 
S. E. Herrick. 

113. My body must descend to the place ordained, but my soul 
will not descend ; being a thing immortal, it will ascend on high, where 
it will enter a heavenly abode. — Heraclitus, Ephesian, 500 B. C. 

114. We get knowledge by losing what we hoped for, and 
liberty by losing what we loved. — Mrs. Browning. 

115. Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this. — 
Goethe. 

116. "Turning to natural religion — we are constantly confronted 
with the name, the authority, the arguments of Bishop Butler, — I 
entirely accept the cogency of his reasoning, against the doctrine of 
those, if such there be, who deny the existence of punishment beyond 
the grave; possibly even they are irresistible." (F. W. Farrar.) 
"If such there be." Well, that was fifty years ago, and we have now 
come to post-war conditions, and there are "such" today, this book 
indicating the possibility, and it is to be hoped the credibility of Christ 
victorious over all evils. "Not unto us but unto Thy name the 
glory." 

117. Unfamiliar truth is first taken to be heretical; second, as 
possibly true; third, "We have thought so always." 

118. "Heaven means principle," said Confucius. 

119. Is creation but a mask with no living face behind it? 

120. "Are there few that be saved ?" was not answered. "I will 
have mercy on whom I will have mercy" implies that His mercy is 
"unobligated and sovereign." So is a mother's; the quality of mercy is 
not strained. This sounds too much like saying that God did not care 
for those on whom He did not have mercy. Yet the fact is that 
temporary mercy and ultimate mercy are two distinct phases. (Luke 
13: 23; Matt. 7: 14; 22: 14.) 

121. I Cor. 14:24,25, Is it a spiritual jiu-jitsu that forces the 
impenitent knee to bow and the stiff neck to bend? 

122. Ransom has been made to bear the odium of the notion that 
Christ ransomed men from Satan, as if evil existed and extorted 
ransom as a right. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 85 

123. Spiritual knowledge and intuition are one thing; Biblical 
criticism is another. 

124. Cartwright, Presbyterian in Elizabeth's reign, was a good 
man, yet he said, "Heretics ought to be burned even after repent- 
ance," and "if this was extreme and bloody, he was content to be so 
counted with the Holy Ghost." Borromeo, who in the plague tended 
the sick, afterward persecuted heretics. Calvin's holiness did not save 
him from polluting the pure stream of Gospel truth by influxes of 
a remorseless logic which led him to conclusions utterly revolting to 
the moral sense. 

125. Plumptre, "The dark shadow of Augustine, dark in spite 
of all the nobleness of the man, was deepened into darkest midnight 
by certain dogmas of Calvin; by restrictions and limitations of Gos- 
pel hopes, and most awful issues of dread decrees of sovereignty?" 
Here is the source of many errors, sovereignty, kingdom, law, pen- 
alty ; the fruit of the tree of knowledge. The Tree of Life is omitted 
from the argument. The Law of the kingdom must be maintained, 
even though God's nature be misunderstood. Because the Judge of 
all the earth will do right; therefore, Love must take the lower place. 
But no! Truly righteousness must be vindicated; this, however, is 
preliminary to the enthronement of Love. "That He might be just," 
yes, and "the justifier" — The universe is challenged to find a flaw in 
the righteousness of God, established by Jesus Christ through His 
"passion," or in the salvation of the dead who can be brought to see 
and believe. 

126. Israel, after 3,500 years of unbelief and ignorance, of rebel- 
lion and discipline, will see and acknowledge their Messiah and Re- 
deemer on the day His feet touch the Mount of Olives, and they will 
then and there be saved to sin no more; for Jehovah, their God and 
Savior, will circumcise their hearts to love Him (Deut. 30: 6). And 
this, not by a process of chastisement, purifying, polishing, to make 
them "fit," but by one unveiled "look" upon Him whom they have 
pierced. Indeed, the Lord intimates that chastisement would exter- 
minate them, therefore He ceases. 

127. Look! Unto Me! And be ye saved! All the ends of 
the earth (read Isa. 45: 21-23). Cain! Why go with a hung-down 
head? Why turn your back? Look! but once. Saul! Saul! Look 
at Me! Dying malefactor, look! Rebellious Israel, look! Behold, 
Thy King cometh. No caviler can say that Saul's free-will was vio- 



1 86 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

lated in the face of the testimony he has put on record. "The love 
of Christ constraineth me." 

128. "The Restitution of All Things," by Andrew Jukes, 16th 
impression, A. D. 1904. Longmans, Green & Co., 39 Paternoster 
Row. Preface, A. D. 1867, shows that this book has had an increas- 
ing number of readers for over fifty years. It gives the best Scrip- 
tural exposition, clears up more difficulties, and makes a more spir- 
itual impression, on careful reading, than any other book published, 
refuting the theory of endless punishment for sin. — Hobab. 

129. Samuel Cox says of Jukes 's "Restitution" "A valuable and 
suggestive work, which swept the last remnants of difficulty clean out 
of my mind." 

130. Robert Anderson says of Andrew Jukes's book, "Restitu- 
tion of All Things," that it "might with fairness be adopted as a 
handbook in the controversy. Here at last we find ourselves in the 
calm atmosphere of reverent and patient study of the Scriptures, to 
the sacredness and authority of which the author gives a noble tes- 
timony." "But," as Anderson goes on, we see that he has not the 
Spiritual perception to enter as deeply into Scripture as Jukes has, and 
so he fails to profit by it. 

131. The continuance of the soul after death, its judgment in 
another world, and its sentence according to its deserts, either to hap- 
piness or suffering, were undoubted parts, both of the popular and 
of the more recondite religion. It was the Egyptian belief that, 
immediately after death, the soul descended into the lower world and 
was conducted to the Hall of Truth, where it was judged in the pres- 
ence of Osiris and the forty-two assessors, judges of the dead. All 
this, and more, Moses left behind. 

132. "Men and Theologians." Farrar, as a man, plays havoc 
with some theological systems, but holds that there is future punish- 
ment for unrepented sin. There are, however, Christians who believe 
in the finished work of the cross as the basis of grace proclaimed to 
all. And grace does not deny justice. The common belief is the 
natural, sprinkled with a few Bible words unvitalized by spirit, a dead 
letter. These ecclesiastics hold the Gospel to be but a means provided 
whereby a man can choose Heaven or Hell just as the whim of the 
moment seizes him, in less time than it takes to choose a pair of socks. 
Whereas, God sets Himself forth as a Teacher whose course is five 
eons in length, the whole Bible his text-books, and His Son in various 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 87 

unveilings from Alpha to Omega as the God of these eons, at the end 
of which the universe of intelligent creatures will have a knowledge 
of God. If anj r one wishes to imagine that then there will be one 
creature that will set his will up against that manifested glory, and 
can discover a hell outside of God's universe, and if he can imagine 
endless duration without bursting like the frog who would rival the 
ox, and so forth, ad libitum, why, this is a free country, let him think 
so. But some day he w T ill listen to God and know the truth, for God 
is a perfect teacher. The truth on this subject is not a primary prin- 
ciple; it is a conclusion. Where Love is obscured, it is no pleasure 
to print trite remarks. Has God no comfort to pass on to those 
who see loved ones depart this life with a belief that eternal torments 
await them? Is this a theme for argument only? The word of God 
is distorted by those who pretend to represent it; they "entomb its 
pure words in inverted pyramids of fallible inference." This is not 
a question for the practice of rhetoric and oratory. It deals w T ith the 
relation of God and men. 

133. The holy Sabbath day is no longer in time measurement 
than any other day. So the coming eon, though glorious as a Millen- 
nial Sabbath, is no longer than any other thousand years of measured 
time. It is sacramentarianism that exalts these outward terms. Christ 
is the one great sacrament; He acted visibly. 

134. Illingsworth, "From the extreme view, that mind is a pass- 
ing harmony of matter to the other extreme that — matter is a dream 
of mind." But! What is the relation of the Supreme Spirit to all 
matter? (i) His word spoke it, and the Divine idea materialized. 
They are separable in thought. The personality is with the spirit. 
Is it not so of God? Matter is a matrix for expression of mind. 
The Old Creation does not fully or fairly express God; therefore, 
like the caterpillar, it must pass away, that the New Creation, the 
butterfly, may express in more beautiful and higher forms the very 
mind of God. 

135. The issues that the post-eonian future will present are not 
for these eonian times. At the consummation of the eons there will 
have been produced a blessed harmony and a wonderful proficiency, 
but for just what, remains one of the secret things that belongs to 
God. The vision of the Millennial throne and the attending angels 
and harpers, and of the Millennial city, are referred to as if filmed 



1 88 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

once for all, and then repeated as showing heaven's one only aspect, 
and its one unchanging activity. 

136. Why, if the Soul can fling the Dust aside, 
And naked on the Air of Heaven ride, 

Were't not a shame — were't not a shame for him 
In this clay carcass crippled to abide? 

— Omar. 
(So Cato reasoned — compare Hamlet.) 

137. A moment's halt — a momentary taste 

Of BEING from the Well amid the Waste— 
And Lo! the phantom caravan has reach'd 
The NOTHING it set out from,— Oh, make haste! 

— Omar. 

138. And this I know: whether the one true-light 
Kindle to love, or wrath-consume me quite 

One flash of It within the tavern caught 
Better than in the temple lost outright. 



■Omar. 



139. What! out of senseless Nothing to provoke 
A conscious something to resent the yoke 

Of unpermitted Pleasure under pain 
Of Everlasting penalties, if broke! 



■0 



mar. 



140. What! from his helpless Creature be repaid 
Pure gold for what he lent him dross — allay'd, 

Sue for a debt he never did contract, 
And cannot answer — Oh, the sorry trade! 

— Omar. 

141. Dante, "The unbaptized bear the wrath of God, and, with- 
out hope, live ever in desire." — Inferno, IV, 24-40. 

142. Augustine dogmatized that baptism was necessary to the 
salvation of children, and the Western Church accepted his teaching 
(Aug. Ser., 138). There was no possibility of pardon, or growth, or 
ultimate acceptance after their death. 

143. "God-forsakenness is the lot of that man who dies in his 
sins. It is awful to contemplate. It makes the hand tremble to 
write the words. But unless men know this truth, they will not 
fly for refuge to Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life." 
— Gray. 

144. The relative place of the doctrine of sin compared with the 
whole of Scripture teaching is greatly exaggerated when it is looked 
at in systematic theology and so-called gospel preaching. Look it up 
in your Concordance. If there never had been a sin committed up 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 1 89 

to the present time, the universe would still be unacceptable, and 
no creature would have any assurance of salvation or of immortality. 
The wisest one of God's creatures was separated from God by igno- 
rance. Creature limitation was the cause of evil. For action guided 
by a finite mind lacks the perfection of that which follows omniscience. 
The finite must say to the Infinite, "Thy will, not mine." Sin has 
had a beginning, a course and an end. It has had a purpose, which, 
accomplished, makes its continuance unnecessary. 

145. "There is an end to God's mercy sometimes; His justice 
demands this." This demand was satisfied at the Cross. Lust pos- 
sesses two daughters, who cry, "Give! give!" So this abstract goddess 
blindly "demands" and "demands." 

146. Save us from our friends who would apologize after this 
manner: "It is an act of mercy on God's part to destroy a few that 
the many may be warned and some saved." — Dean Gray. 

147. "Denominationalism is almost a necessity in the present 
age. The Calvinist is necessary to the Arminian and vice versa/' 
(Gray.) More apologies? Oh, yes! The system does have a 
department of apologetics. 

148. Emmons says, "Extinction of being would be escape from 
punishment." 

149. "Tartarus" lasts only until judgment. "Hades" disap- 
pears at Judgment. "Gehenna," where it is used other than of the 
well-known valley, is in Jewish connection only, and notes disci- 
plinary and not final conditions. 

150. Man is as God created him as far as functions go. He has 
mind, conscience, soul, will, a sense of justice, a reasoning power, 
logic. He can observe, deduce and come to conclusions within his 
sphere. Sin is an added factor which calls attention to his need of 
God. 

151. "The heathen are lost forever because of sin. It is like 
disease in the human body, for which there is a certain cure, but of 
w T hich the afflicted one in a certain case has no knowledge. He dies 
because of the disease." — Gray. 

152. Dean Gray says, criticizing Matt. 13:39: "The word 
translated 'world' should be rendered 'age/ and the forty-ninth verse 
should read in the end of the 'age/ thus clearly indicating that an age 
is time limited." (The word is eon.) This is not a pagan "rumor." 
It is the Dean of a Bible Institute condemning a Dean of a Divin- 



190 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

ity (?) School; the publication from which this is taken was pur- 
chased at the Chicago Bible Institute Book Store. He also says: 
"As I understand the Scriptures, there is no hope for any man in this 
(last) age or any previous age, who dies, or has died, in his sins. 
I know no Scripture which gives them another chance in any other 
age or reign. On the contrary, the analogy of other ages is all 
against it." Ages are thus referred to, but where is there any 
adequate Biblical doctrine of the ages from these eternalists? Ages 
and Eternity are contradictory in meaning, if eternity has any mean- 
ing on the lips of finite creatures. And if these writers had the 
Scriptural idea of the origin and purpose of evil, they would not talk 
of its endlessness. If they confess the origin of evil to be an insoluble 
problem, why so insistent upon its endlessness? 

153. Torrey writes, "As Christians become worldly and easy- 
going they grow loose in their doctrine concerning the doom of the 
impenitent. Men who accept a loose doctrine regarding the ultimate 
penalty of sin, be it Universalism, Restorationism, or Annihilationism, 
lose their power with God." "If you in any wise abate the doctrine 
of the endless torment of the impenitent, it will abate your zeal." 
And if Israel as a nation, or if any Gentile individual, will believe 
the Gospel of Grace, it will abate zeal for the law. This zeal with- 
out knowledge is very active, but it does not have Divine approval. 
It is an intolerant zeal, a mud-slinging zeal, a Pharisaic zeal. Paul, 
who does not mention Hades, or Gehenna, or the Lake of the Fire, 
and "of course" did not use the English word Hell, may not have 
had that "power with God" which depends on the preaching of end- 
less penalty for sin, but God had power with Paul. Now we do not 
read that Jesus preached Hell to Saul of Tarsus, nor are we to sup- 
pose that the omission harmed him. Paul himself says that it was 
the Love of Christ that constrained him. (II Cor. 5 : 14.) We also 
read that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance, and that 
gracious miracles would have led even Sodom to repent. 

Is it indeed the same Dr. Torrey who writes in a magazine for 
May, 1920, "What the Cross Means," in which he says, "It means 
that God is holy and that God is Love. It means that Satan is a 
conquered enemy. It means that the whole universe, 'All things, 
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven,' are reconciled 
to God"? (Col. 1:18-20.) 



MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 191 

These modern Jacobites who claim to have "power with God" 
have nothing but the somewhat uncertain rendering in the account of 
the wrestling at the brook Jabbok to base their catchword on. Apart 
from this, the expression does not occur in Scripture. No believer 
need fear losing w T hat he never had. 

Gen. 32 : 22-32, Jacob at Jaboc, the trouble maker in trouble. 
Jabbok means pounded to dust. This elect man, exiled for years, is 
returning to the promised land. He strove with Esau in the womb, 
and later strove by deceit with his father and brother for the covenant 
blessing, which was his in any case. Now he comes to Jabbok; it is 
the time and place of "Jacob's trouble," in which God threshes out 
the flesh and brings to light the spiritual Israel. Need it be pointed 
out to a prophetic student that Jacob the nation is about to return 
to the land; that the great tribulation which is the narrow gate to 
their kingdom is prefigured in the jabbokking of that night when 
Jacob was pounded that Israel might enter the inheritance? Then 
for a millennium Israel will be "a prince with God," ruling under 
(not over) Messiah, their head. "Alas! for that day is great, so that 
none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall 
be saved out of it." (Jer. 30:7.) Israel, the new name, means 
Prince with God, and it is the name of the perfected nation of priests 
which teaches the nations for a thousand years. Then Messiah will 
prevail over Jacob, and Messiah with Israel will rule. 

154. All error has been called heresy and all heresy has been 
doomed to endless hell. Is there none of this narrow spirit left? 
There are some who specialize in the saving evangelism of a "second 
blessing," or in "doctrines that must be believed," or in acts that must 
be done. There is still a "Shibboleth" for life, and a "Siboleth" for 
death at the ford of the Jordan. But He who was "sent" from God 
thus presents the preliminary requisite, "If any man is willing to do 
His will, he shall know." Here is the famous Free- Will, but shorn 
of its pretentiousness. Even Will is subject to desire, and desire can 
be excited by the appropriate motive. God can bring motives to bear 
of various kinds. The blind man of the ninth chapter of John was 
an apt scholar; he was one of the very few who learned before His 
resurrection that Jesus, the Son of Man, was the Son of God. This 
will be one great teaching of the Millennium. 

155. God is spirit. Supreme Divine intelligence is manifested 
in the setting forth of the Father by the Son. In other words, the 

13 



192 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

gospel concerning the Son is the wisdom of God. Supreme Spirit is 
Supreme Intelligence. God's purpose of the eons shows His Supreme 
Intelligence. The carrying out of His purpose was through Divine 
utterance. In other words, "All things were made by the Word" 
(the Son). "He spake and it was done." "And Elohim said, Light 
be! and Light was." Visible creation, animate and inanimate, spirit 
and matter, declares its Creator. The Living Word is also the 
"First-born of all creation." The Universe is thus a unit under the 
Headship of the Son. God is One. God and the Universe are 
two. We are mostly concerned with man as a part of the Universe, 
and his relation to God. This relation is perfected only in Christ, 
the Head of the Man, and perfected only at the completion of His 
work. "How are two to walk together except they are agreed?" 
God and the Universe are not yet in agreement and they never were. 
This is part of the temporary humiliation of the Son who is identified 
with creation. The Son is One with the Father, and when God and 
creation are so reconciled by the Son that God can be all in all, 
then we can hail Christ Victorious! Meanwhile man belongs to the 
unreconciled Universe, the party of the second part. When will the 
Universe be reconciled to God? Not while evil continues to be 
recognized as part of it. Well! says the human justice of the peace, 
cut the universe in two and send part of it to an endless hell and 
let Christ be Head over a divided creation. No, says the believer, for 
victorious Headship, must not the Son subdue will to agree with will, 
and spirit to agree with Spirit, in the whole, even as He has already 
done in part? Darkness remains over half our globe; cannot the 
Light shine upon a complete globe at one time? Must there always 
be a dark side to the moon? Not always. "There will be no more 
night." Love is creative; Love will produce a returning love; and 
in the Truth souls must love each other, for "it is their nature to." 
Ignorance will not be allowed to exist in endless contradiction of 
knowledge. You cannot always love God and Mammon. The Lord 
loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity, and so will every intelligent 
creature; that is, every spirit that knoweth God. It was not when 
Adam took upon himself the responsibility of Eve's act that the Son 
was "sent forth;" it was at the first creative word that the Word 
began as Alpha to do a work which will be realized in a reconciled 
creation only when Omega shall demonstrate its completion. "I am 
the Alpha, the Beginning or Head of the creation; I am the Omega!" 






MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 193 

Is not "the new creation" a finished work? "The never-ending ages 
of eternity" as they "roll on" will do so after this finished work is 
returned to the Father in the Son. 

156. Death, like darkness, is a negative. Both are annulled by 
Life and Light. But of the positive it is written, "All things are out 
of God and through God, and unto God." (Rom. n : 36; II Cor. 
5: 18-20; Heb. 9:26.) "But made manifest now by the epiphany 
of our Savior Jesus Christ, who indeed annulled the Death but 
brought the Life and the incorruptibility to Light through the Gos- 
pel." "Death shall be no more." (Rev. 21 : 4, 5.) "I am the 
Beginning and the End." (Rev. 22:13.) "All things new!" 
Heaven, earth. But no new Death, no new Hades, no new Gehenna, 
Tartarus. There is not yet a revelation of what comes after the 
victorious "Omega." 



CHAPTER XI 

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 

"Thy Word is Truth." But that word has been perverted, and 
perverted truth is a lie. It was perverted by the Devil in the Garden 
with dire results; in the Wilderness Temptation without avail. The 
Law especially is used by the Liar to blind Israel, to snare believers, 
to commercialize the ignorant conscience. A partial truth is a lie. 
An intelligent, otherwise a spiritual, knowledge of God is acquired 
only by a diligent exercise of the spiritual senses under the Divine 
Teacher. This chapter will give examples of texts seen from various 
viewpoints, false and true. 

I Tim. 4:7; Heb. 5 : 14 ; Heb. 12 : 11 ; II Peter 2 : 14 — these pas- 
sages speak of spiritual gymnastics that result in a discernment of good 
and evil; that are unto godliness, rather than unto covetousness. If 
you do not form a perfect creed, yet the exercise profits far more than 
physical gymnastics in religion do. (I Tim. 4:8.) 

"I speak now no longer with natural passion, but with most accu- 
rate theological precision, when I say that, though texts may be quoted 
which give prima facie plausibility to such modes of teaching, — they 
are founded on interpretations which have appeared to many wise men 
to be demonstrably groundless ; and that for every one so quoted, two 
can be adduced whose prima facie and literal interpretation tells on 
the other side. Tyranny has engraved texts upon her sword ; Oppres- 
sion has carved texts upon her fetters; Cruelty has tied texts around 
her faggots; Ignorance has set Knowledge at defiance with texts 
woven on her flag. Gin-drinking has been defended out of Timothy, 
and Slavery made a stronghold out of Philemon; the Devil quoted 
texts in the Temptation ; the Pharisees quoted texts against our Lord." 
— F. W. Farrar, 

II Thess. 1 : 7-9, Eonian destruction from the presence (pros- 
opon) of the Lord. This epistle was one of the first New Testament 
writings (about A. D. 52). The promise to Abraham of Millennial 
blessing was the only SCRIPTURAL "hope" of believers up to 
Eph. 1:3, where the heavenly "hope" was first recorded. This 
"destruction" occurs at the unveiling of the Lord Jesus, and, like all 
the judgments of the Son of Man, they do not go beyond His thou- 
sand years of reign. After the Millennium only will the Divine 

power and glory of the Son of God be exercised to the full in His 

194 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES . 195 

universal Headship. The Son of David exercises regal power over 
living descendants of Adam only; the last Adam is the Son of Man 
from Heaven. He has a relation to the dead as well as living. ( Rev. 
14: 7-9; Luke 20: 38.) 

Dean Torrey asks, "What does everlasting (eonian) destruction 
mean? In Rev. 17:8 the beast goeth into destruction. In 19:20, 
the beast and the false prophet they two were cast alive into the 
Lake of Fire that burneth with brimstone, so we see that [their] 
destruction is a portion in the Lake of Fire. And Rev. 20: 10, The 
Devil was cast into the Lake of Fire, where are also the beast and 
false prophet [after having already been there one thousand years. 
See context]. And they shall be tormented day and night forever 
and ever [for the eons of the eons]. So we see that destruction means 
a portion in the Lake of Fire where its inhabitants are consciously suf- 
fering without cessation forever and ever." (For the eons of the 
eons — that is the thousand-year eon which is mentioned and the one 
which follows it.) "We" don't see it. 

The Dean continues, "To be cast out from the presence of the 
Lord is the root of 'eternal death' [an unscriptural expression] ; it 
is evil left to its own working, but it may be some time before the 
full result is experienced and realized. The unbelieving may be cast 
out, i. e., from the presence of Christ's glory, but yet remain to some 
extent upon the earth." 

Luke 20: 36, Sadducean errors corrected. Vs. 34. "The sons of 
this eon marry." This present eon is evil; to be followed by a good 
one where, in resurrection life, children of the kingdom will be blest. 
Those who are accounted worthy of that eon and resurrection from 
the dead do not marry — for neither are they able to die any more; 
for they are equal to angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the 
resurrection! All resurrected ones who enjoy eonian life under 
Messiah's reign are by this fact declared to be sons of God. (Rom. 
1:4.) Resurrection declared Jesus to be Son of God. "In Christ 
shall all be made alive;" this fact will declare every human being 
to be a child of God. Therefore, they are not raised from the dead 
as children of Adam, as impenitent, unbelieving, ignorant. Are the 
wicked dead to be raised "in Christ" in wickedness? The wicked 
shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the 
righteous. 



196 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

1. Is this decisive as to angels? See Ps. 82: 7. 

2. Cannot die. 

3. Are on the angelic plane — Death is not there. 

4. Are sons of God. 

5. Being sons of the resurrection. 

Ps. 82 : 7, "I said ye shall die like men." Of what texture are 
angelic bodies? If they can thus die, then they are spirit and body. 
If they live, they love, not things that the soul of man might crave, 
but excellencies of spirit, knowledge that pufreth up, etc. 

Rom. 14: 7-9, But he is not of dead ones, but of living ones. For 
no one of us lives to himself or dies to himself ; for even if we should 
live, we should live to the Lord, and if we should die, we die to the 
Lord. If, then, we should live, and if we should die, we are the 
Lord's. For unto this Christ both died and lived again, that he 
might Lord it over both dead and living. (Note the whole chapter 
is concerning brotherly relations, as to eating meats, etc.) 

Fenton renders, "Since none of us can live for himself, and none 
dies to himself, for if we live, we live by the Lord, and if we die, 
we die to the Lord; therefore, if we live or if we die, we belong to 
the Lord. For this purpose Christ died and lived; so that, dying or 
living, He might direct us." (Own us, control us, possess us, domi- 
nate us, rule us, guide us, Lord it over us.) Not the God of the 
dead ! But Christ died that in His resurrection all might live. God, 
the living God, did not die! A captain declares martial law; he is 
captain of soldiers, not of civilians, but he is dictator over both sol- 
diers and civilians. John 5 : 25, Shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God and live. Vs. 27, judgment because He is the Son of Man! 
The life resurrection is by the voice of the Son of God, the judgment 
is that of the Son of Man, which ends when the Son of God is 
unveiled. 

John 5 : 19-29, The Father Judges not. Vs. 22, all judgment 
unto the Son. Vs. 27, Authority to execute judgment, because he 
is the Son of Man. Vs. 45, I will not accuse you. 

Scripture, "But what is in fact the voice of Scripture on the sub- 
ject? The voice of the Church, it is true, has been heard in every 
age in support of the doctrine of an endless hell, and in some sense 
the testimony gains in weight from the fact that a minority never has 
been wanting to protest against the dogma. The minority may, after 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 197 

all, be right." (Robert Anderson, "Human Destiny," p. 5.) He then 
goes on to prove it wrong. 

Scripture, Appeal to "the whole trend of Scripture" may or may 
not be a proper argument, but it is confirmatory of the reconciliation 
of the universe, rather than of sempiternal punishment. This latter 
phrase is not in the Old Testament, and its appearance in New Tes- 
tament translation is easily shown to be erroneous. Moreover, con- 
clusions based on "law which perfected nothing," do not conform to 
Scripture trend as does the position that is founded on Gospel, on 
Grace, on the character of God, rather than on His temporary admin- 
istration of justice, which he establishes once for all. See definite 
passages listed on pages 199, 200, 201. Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; 
3: 17; 12: 32; Romans 5th to nth chapters; I Cor. 15: 20-28; Eph. 
1 : 9, 10; Phil. 2: 10, n ; John 1 : 13; 1 : 16-18; 4: 42; 5: 21-29, 34; 
6:28, 29, 37, 38; 7: 16, 17, etc., with Isa. 55; John 6:45. 

Dan. 12:2, Many shall enjoy the first resurrection, while those 
who do not shall be doomed to shame and contempt for the eon there 
contemplated, which is the eon of covenant fulfilment. This contempt 
is for the covenant people who are condemned to eonian discipline. 
Abn Ezra renders this correctly, "Those who wake shall be appointed 
to eonian life, and those who awake not shall be appointed to shame 
and eonian contempt." Tragelles, "these shall be unto eonian life, 
but those shall be unto shame and eonian contempt" (as in Isa. 66: 24, 
"abhorring"). 

Ezek. 18: 1-32, Could this turning be in death or at the Great 
White Throne? 

Judah, Sodom, Samaria restored; is this historical, or of the 
individual dead? 

Ezek. 16: 55-63, They should loathe themselves for all their evils. 
Is not this in death ? 

Ezek. 20: 42-44, Ezekiel brings in grace if moderns do not. Gov- 
ernment, Ezek. 18:25. 

Zech. 9: n, 12, Stronghold — strong tower. 

Day of the Lord. Burn as an oven, a refiner, and purifier. (Mai. 
3: 1,6, 17; 4: 12.) 

Heb. 9 : 26, Blood not his own, "Since [in that case] it were neces- 
sary that He should oftentimes suffer since the wreck of the cosmos." 
If Christ must offer blood yearly, He could not, like the High Priest, 
offer blood not His own. If He offer His own, He cannot suffer 



I98 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

yearly. "Since the wreck" is a link in the argument. Now, how- 
ever, once for all at the end of the eons (that is from the wreck, 
which demonstrated the presence of evil, through the eons and up 
to the sacrifice at the end of them. The doctrine of the consumma- 
tion of all five eons should not be pressed in here). True, Heb. 
11:3, "He framed the eons," but we must go to the apocalypse to 
get the facts concerning the last two eons. Sin was put away at the 
end of the first three evil eons, as scheduled on the Divine program. 
This present dispensation is an unannounced number which inter- 
rupts the course of Christ's work, and is ignored in the language of 
the text. "Hath He been manifested for the putting away of sin 
by His sacrifice." This "sacrifice" is an act by which the putting 
away of sin is brought about. This death of Christ was "once for 
all," even as the death of a man is once for all, a common death, in 
which Christ's often dying has no place. "After death," for Christ 
and for all dead, judgment establishes the Universe on the resurrection 
principles of the New Creation. In the last two eons sin is a past 
issue, it cuts no figure, for Christ appears the second time "apart from 
sin," to establish righteousness "apart from law." For judgment con- 
cerning sin and sins was settled at the cross. Now, "judgment" must 
put everything in its place, under the Headship of Christ, Savior; 
Savior by Omnipotence now, as he was Savior by redemption at the 
cross; redeemed by the Passover blood of the First-born from the 
death penalty in Egypt, but also as Jehovah promised, "I will redeem 
you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments." (See Ex. 
6:6; Deut. 4:34; 7:19; 11:2-7; 26:8; Ps. 136: 12.) After this, 
judgment. What is to be this judgment when He appears? It is apart 
from sin to them that wait for Him unto salvation (therefore, wait 
for Him). See II Tim. 4: 8. 

Heb. 9: 27, Appointed to the men [humanity] once for all to die, 
and, after that, judgment [this is not the judgment that the pre- 
conceived idea of the translator would force upon it by inserting the 
definite article, but the idea of justice in general]. Sin having been 
put away, the Cosmos must be adjusted to that fact! ("After that," 
meta touto, is general.) After death there is no death, and death, 
and death, to be feared, any more than Christ the sacrifice must 
furnish blood, and blood, and blood, every year (or at every abom- 
inable mass). So also "the Christ" (who is one of "the men"), once 
having been offered (not necessary to supply an agent, but the Eonian 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 199 

Spirit might be considered such (vs. 14; Isa. 53: 12) to bear the sins 
of the many (Lev. 24:15; Num. 5:31; 14:34) and once for all 
shall appear a second time without (reference to) sin. Because the 
cross settled that. If the sacrifice did not do away with all judgment 
for sin, then Christ appears the second time to deal with sin. This 
is what is emphasized to these Hebrews, that not many times must 
Christ be offered for sin, nor even a second time, for His second 
appearing is apart from sin, even as His righteousness (Rom. 3:21) 
is apart from law. There was sin on Him at His first appearing, 
but not at His second. What became of sin ? Of the whole business 
of it? The cross was not a partial-payment affair, with perpetual 
installments in the indefinite future — "unto salvation" (salvation per- 
fected.) "How much to be desired, this word from Heaven, coming 
apart from sin, not for sorrow, but for the joy of salvation!" says 
Chrysostom. 

Jude 25, "before all the eons, and now, and with all the eons." 
This stops short at the so-called eternity. 

Hos. 13 : 14; I Cor. 15 : 55, Here is the victory of Christ over 
Death and Hades. Is He not victorious over Gehenna, over Tar- 
tarus ? No, they say, Christ is not victorious over our hell ; we cannot 
get along without it. 

Farrar lists the following as having some bearing on the subject. 
They refer to Divine mercies : 

Luke 6: 35; 15: 1-3 1 ; Isa. 49: 15; Ps. 103: 1-5; Jer. 31 : 20; Mai. 
3: 17; Matt. 7:11; Ex. 34: 6, 7; Ps. 33: 5; 62: 12; 106: 1 ; 107:1 ; 
118:1-4; 136:1-26; 119:68; 130:4-7; 30:5; 78:38; 86:15; 
II Cor. 1:3; Eph. 2:4; Ps. 139:8; 25:6; Lam. 3:31-34; Joel 
2 : 13, 14 ; Dan. 9:9; Isa. 43 : 25 ; Neh. 9:17. 

These words, he says, have slight weight with those whose souls 
are hardened into scholastic system. He then gives the following, 
which should be considered as clear in phrase and signification, and 
thus leading others which are fewer, less clear, and allegorical : 

Gen. 3: 15; 12: 3-5; Ps. 103: 9; Micah 7: 18; Ps. 139: 8; Lam. 
3:31-33; Isa. 57: 16; 12: 1 ; 26:20; 54: 7,8; 49:9; 45:21,22,23; 
53: 11; Hos. 6: 1 ; 14:4; Micah 7: 18, 19; John 1:29; 3: 17,35,42; 
I John 4: 14; John 12:32; Luke 9:36; 12:48; I John 2:2; Acts 
3:21; Eph. 1 : 10; Phil. 2: 10, 11 ; Col. 1 : 19, 20; Rom. 8: 19-24.; 
5: 12-21 ; 11 : 32; 14: 9; I Cor. 15: 22; II Cor. 5: 19; I Tim. 2:4; 
4: 10; 2: 1-6; Tit. 2: 11, 12; Heb. 2: 14, 8, 9; Rev. 5: 13; 21 : 4, 5; 



200 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

22: 3 ; 20: 14 (over forty passages). Others to which he refers may 
be added: Jas. 2: 13; Ps. 52: 8 (olam vaed, the eon and beyond) ; 
I Peter 4 : 6 ; 3 : 1 9. ( Farrar. ) 

Professor Shedd calls attention to the following passages also: 

Matt. 10:28, Fear him who can destroy the soul. 

Matt. 13:4-42,49,50, Parables of the Kingdom. 

Matt. 7:2-23, depart, I never knew you. 

Luke 12:9,10, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. 

Matt. 23: 16-23, blind guides. 

Matt. 26: 24, Judas. 

Luke 12: 46, that servant will be cut off. See R. V. 

Mark 16: 16, believeth not, shall be doomed. 

Matt. 11 : 23, Capernaum, down to Hades. 

John 8:21, Ye cannot come. 

John 5 : 28, resurrection of judgment. 

These are cited as, "of course," decisive, when all of them refer 
to a time far short of what is called a "final judgment." None of 
them establish his contention; while a much greater number of texts 
explicitly teach, in accord with Col. 1 : 20, "the reconciliation of the 
Universe." Of these explicit passages, the professor can say, "The 
paucity of the text that can with any plausibility be made to teach 
Universalism." Is there any paucity or uncertainty about Col. 1 : 20? 

He calls attention to the description of the manner in which 
Christ will discharge the office of the "Eternal Judge." Shedd cre- 
ates this office out of his own head, and would install the Son of God 
in that perpetual humiliation. Scripture speaks in far different lan- 
guage of the exaltation of Jesus. 

The following are referred to as sentences pronounced by Christ 
as a Judge: 

1. Hewn down like a tree and cast into the fire. (Matt. 3 : 10.) 

2. Burnt up as chaff, as tares, as withered branches, in un- 
quenchable fire. ( Matt. 3 : 12; 13:30; John 15:6.) 

3. Cast into a (the, Greek) furnace of (the, Greek) fire or into 
everlasting fire, or fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. (Matt. 
i3:5o;25:4i.) 

4. Cast into the lake of (the, Greek) fire. (Rev. 20: 14.) 

5. Cast into the outer darkness. (Matt. 8: 12.) 

6. Cast into the sea like bad fish. (Matt. 13:48.) 

7. Be destroyed. (Mark 12: 9.) 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 201 



8 



Be destroyed, body and soul. (Matt. 10:28.) 



9. Be miserably destroyed. (Matt. 21 : 41.) 

10. Be consumed. (II Thess. 2: 8.) 

11. Be lost. (Matt. 10: 6; II Cor. 4: 3.) 

12. Be drowned in destruction and perdition. (I Tim. 6:9.) 

13. Be ground to powder. (Matt. 21 : 4, 5.) 

14. Be rooted up like a plant. (Matt. 15: 13.) 

15. Be cut off. (Rom. 11:22.) 

16. Be cut down like a fig tree. (Luke 13: 7.) 

17. Be cut asunder. (Luke 12: 46.) 

18. Be a castaway. (I Cor. 9: 26.) 

19. Perish. (II Cor. 2:15.) 

20. Die the second death. (Rev. 20: 14.) 

And the professor conveys the impression that these miscellaneous 
figures, regardless of context or discrimination, should be taken as 
indicating the modern English Hell and its torments as the sentence 
of an unscriptural "eternal judge." They are all connected with the 
next eon except two. Also, Matt. 3: 12, fan in his hand; 25: 10, 
foolish virgins; 25: 19-30, unprofitable servant. 

He solicits a careful reading of the following passages: Matt. 
25:3i-33,4i s 46; Markg: 43-48; 8:36; Luke9:25; 16: 22, 23. 

All these refer to the entrance of Messiah on his Millennial reign, 
but if one does not believe that Christ shall reign on the throne of 
David during the next eon, he must use the Scriptures in this "un- 
workmanlike" manner. He asks, "Do these representations and this 
phraseology make the impression that the future punishment of sin 
is to be remedial or temporary? These passages have nothing to do 
with sin. It is a false premise. As eonian, dispensational, chrono- 
logical, and many other Scriptural distinctions are ignored, including 
the main distinction between law and gospel, which is universal with 
advocates of endless future punishment, most every Scripture quoted 
is seen out of focus and misapplied ; the few here taken up are samples 
of the others. 

Gen. 22 : 28, "In thy seed shall all families of the earth be 
blessed." Another doctor says, "One has only to reflect a moment to 
see how all families of the earth have already been blessed through 
Christ. The gospel of the Son of God has been proclaimed in nearly 
every nation under heaven. And wherever it has gone it has brought 
salvation and blessing with it." Now if you will reflect another 



202 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

moment, you will perceive not only the stupid inaccuracy of such a 
statement, but a perversion of a most important passage ; all to bolster 
up the false doctrine that church magnates would fasten on the 
Scripture. 

The Dean continues, "The future holds still greater blessings for 
all the families of the earth through Israel. All the blessings of the 
Millennium come through Christ. It is then that this original 
promise to Abraham will be fulfilled in a greater sense than has been 
yet realized." And is that all ? But look beyond into the Dean's 
idea of hell; how many families of the earth are there? (Why try 
to slip the meaning nations into the word families?) (Ps. 78:41, 
they limited the Holy One of Israel.) The great mass of humanity 
have never heard of Abraham and his seed; they have not rejected 
an offered Christ. They are "without excuse" as sinners, but though 
ignorant of the fact, their sins are not charged to their account. 
What kind of blessing does the promise to Abraham give all these 
families? What does the Dean say? He says, "Christ can save all. 
He has already redeemed them by His blood. The only (?) thing 
standing in the way of the salvation of all men are first, a knowledge 
of Jesus Christ as their Savior, and second, a willingness to accept 
Him as such." See John 5 : 40 and 7:17. 

Gen. 12: 3; 22: 18; 49: 18, "waited for Thy salvation." There 
is no offer of future rewards- or punishments in the Mosaic stage; 
there are visible present rewards rather than shadowy future ones, 
while in Egyptian religions future awards were prominent. Good 
and evil were weighed in the balance and thus the soul's fate was 
determined. 

Enough has been brought to view to justify most serious challenge 
of the current doctrines of eternity and future penalties, but there 
are some who insist that every last expression on the subject be cleared 
up. The following are taken up, not exhaustively, but enough to 
suggest aspects that should not be ignored if one is a Bible searcher; 
if one would be jealous of Scripture integrity. 

Eonian. The adjective has importance in passages not yet 
considered. 

The Eonian God is the God Who acts within the limits of Alpha 
and Omega, first and last, in dealing with finite creatures. This is 
no denial of God's existence beyond time limits. He is none the less 
God because thus acting. 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 203 

Mark 3 : 29, Guilty of eonian sin. The rendering "eternal sin" 
in the sense of endless sin is based on a contradictory use of "eonian," 
or, as Anderson puts it, on the "chameleonic" uncertainty of it. It 
must deny the finished work of the cross. It must affirm, without 
Scriptural warrant, that man's future is decided by "self-determina- 
tion" in his lifetime. It denies that God has any grace for a man 
that dies impenitent. It denies the possibility of a man to change his 
will after death; that is, his free-will is confined to his natural life; 
he cannot repent after death. To assert that he can but will not is 
assertion only. It requires that sin shall have a resurrection contrary 
to Luke 20: 36. The wills of every saved man have been changed. 
How? First, by the act of God, and, second, by the presentation 
of a motive. They shall all be taught of God. Why should not all 
come to the knowledge of God under such a Teacher? "This is 
eonian life that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom Thou hast sent." Destructive criticism eliminates the 
Divine element from consideration, and judges the Bible on human 
visible evidence only. So, likewise, men have seen a carpenter, a 
teacher, a martyr, but they have dissected in imagination "that holy 
thing" and their human eye has discovered no God. That would 
require the eye of faith. So, "endless misery" is allotted to many 
sentient creatures by a strictly natural legal method. The Gospel 
of God, the character of the Divine dispenser of righteousness, yes, 
even the sacrifice of Christ, is not to be allowed in evidence. They 
claim that the name above every name is "Judge." They deny that 
it is "Savior." So Mark 3 : 29 is made an authority for eternal sin, 
eternal law, eternal death, and sin that was too much for the sin- 
bearer. But now read the passage in accord with the usage of eon 
as limited. As the Lord is talking to Jews to whom is covenanted 
life for the Millennial eon, He tells them that those of them who 
blaspheme against the Holy Spirit in this present eon are guilty of 
an eonian sin which shall not be forgiven them in this eon (which 
ends with the great tribulation), nor in that which is to come (the 
thousand years of covenanted blessing to Israel), but it does not say 
that it was not put away at the cross, nor that the blessed experience 
of forgiveness will not be theirs in the last eon, the post-Millennial 
one; much less does it say anything about forever, or eternal. This 
statement would need no explanation to Jews whose hope for fifteen 
hundred years had been the promise of the Millennial reign of their 



204 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Messiah. Why dislocate Scripture and continually steal Jewish 
earthly things and apply them to this present heavenly body of 
Christ? Does not the "riches of the heavenly glory" "exceed" the 
earthly Millennial glory? 

Mark 3 : 29, R. V., "As to which you should remember that the 
punishment must continue as long as the sin continues. ( Further than 
this we cannot go, as the Bible affords no light beyond.)" [That is 
to Dr. Gray, but?] 

Matt. 25 : 46, The Syrian version reads, "These shall go away 
to the pain of the olam, and these to the life of the olam." This oft- 
quoted passage is the only place where the actual English phrase, 
"eternal" or "everlasting punishment," occurs. It is applied to a 
so-called final great criminal assize, the day of Judgment, contrary to 
the following facts: (1) This is declared to be a judgment by the 
Son of Man, as King. (2) It is said that the subjects are the living 
nations. (3) The only test is the attitude of Gentiles to Jews. 
(4) The test is confined to acts of kindness. (5) The award is par- 
ticipation in the Millennial reign of Messiah for one class, and Mil- 
lennial exclusion and discipline for the other class. (Kidlings.) (See 
Ezek., chapter 34, sheep and sheep.) (6) These two classes are com- 
pared to sheep and goats, not to sheep and wolves. The goats are 
clean animals and are of value to the shepherd. They have not the 
gentle obedience of the sheep, and their independent character requires 
discipline. (Kolasis.) (7) This is to be when the Lord comes the 
second time. 

As to this eonian fire, it is the unveiled resurrection glory of the 
Son of Man. Compare II Thess. 2:8, the "epiphany of His Parou- 
sia" destroys the Antichrist; and Rev. 19:20, "cast alive into the 
Lake of the Divine Fire." These are two aspects of the same incident. 
This expression is bandied about in such an irreverent way that one 
feels like apologizing to believers for using it, and for humbly saying, 
"Lead me in Thy truth and teach me. Teach me Thy paths, Thy 
statutes, Thy judgments, to do Thy will." 

"That Omniscient Being who made the statements respecting the 
day of Judgment and the final sentence, that are recorded in Matt. 
25:31-46, could neither have believed nor expected that all men 
will eventually be holy and happy. To threaten with everlasting 
(eonian) punishment, while knowing that the "goats" would ulti- 
mately have the same holiness and happiness as the "sheep," would 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 205 

have been both falsehood and folly. The threatening would have 
been false, for even a long punishment would not have justified Christ 
in teaching that these experience the same retribution with "the devil 
and his angels," for these were understood by the Jews to whom He 
spoke to be hopelessly and eternally lost spirits." — W . G. T. Shedd. 

Rom. 5: 18, Shedd says this "all" is severed from the preceding 
verse in which the "all" are described as "those which receive abun- 
dance of Grace and of the gift of righteousness," thus attempting to 
convey the false impression that these are less than "all," which is 
certainly contrary to context. 

I Peter 3 : 18-20, "in-spirit." This is not the dative of the instru- 
ment, nor is the contrasted word, "in-flesh" (oapki and pneumati) see 
Winer ; and the same use of the dative is in I Cor. 7:34; I Tim. 
3: 16; Rom. 1:4; Col. 2:5; it is the sphere of the act. To encour- 
age the persecuted, they are told that this is in-flesh and that they 
are at death to pass into the sphere of spirit. "Having gone" is a 
local motion. 

Eph. 4:9, 10, "Ascent" involves previous "descent." 

Rom. 5 : 12-21 limps if we make the result under the second Head 
of the human race narrower in its range than under that of the first. 
On the two following pages will be found this passage displayed so 
that it can be studied very carefully, as it ought to be. The two 
headships, that of Adam and that of Christ, are set forth, showing 
all evil under the first to come to an end by Death, and the whole 
creation new under the Headship of Christ, established on resurrec- 
tion ground. Acting in sovereign grace, Christ takes upon Himself 
as Head all responsibility of all human imperfection, be it sin, igno- 
rance or unbelief. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth chapters of 
Romans show the reconciliation of the Adamic race, and Colossians 
asserts the reconciliation of the Universe. 



206 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

ROMANS 5: 12-21 
Verse 

12 Therefore, 

As through one man the sin entered into the world, 

and the Death through the Sin, 
and so the Death passed 

Unto ALL MEN, for that all sinned; — 

13 for until Law sin was in [the] world; but sin is not imputed 

14 when there is no law; nevertheless Death reigned from Adam 
until Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the like- 
ness of Adam's transgression; 

WHO is a type of- THE COMING ONE 

(Adam's Headship) (Christ's Headship) 

15 BUT NOT (Negative) 
as the Fallen-Condition, So also the Gracious-Condition ; 
FOR if, 

by the Fallen-Condition 
of the ONE (Man), 
The Many died, 

Much more, 

the Grace of God and the GIFT 
in Grace which is 

of the Other Man, Jesus Christ, 
to the Many did abound. 

16 AND NOT (The Sin, Negative) 

as by One having sinned The GIFT-Condition 
For indeed 
GUILT [was] 

out of One (Fallen-Condition), 
unto a State of Guiltiness 

But 

The GIFT [was] 

out of Many Fallen-Conditions 
unto a State of Righteousness; 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 207 

Verse 

17 for if, (The Penalty) 
by the Fallen-Condition of the One, 

The Death-state reigned 
through the One, 

Much more, 

Those receiving the overflow of the 
Grace and the GIFT of Righteousness, 
reign in Life 

by the Other, Jesus Christ; 

18 SO THEN, (Conclusion, Positive) 

as, By One Downfall 
to ALL Men 

to a state of Guilt; 

SO ALSO, 

by One Rectification, 
to ALL Men 

. . n to righteousness of Life ; 

19 for AS fe 

through the Disobedience (cause) 
of the One Man, the 

Many were made Sinners; (result) 
SO ALSO 

by the Obedience (cause) 
of the Other, the 

Many will be made Righteous; 

(result) 

20 but LAW came in incidentally that the FALLEN-CONDI- 
TION might be obvious, yet where sin abounded, Grace super- 
abounded ; 

21 IN ORDER THAT 

AS 

The Sin reigned 
in the Death-state, 

SO ALSO 

Grace might reign 

through righteousness, to Life 
eonian through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
14 



208 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Verse 12. This was the instant effect of the act of sin through 
the automatic power of the law. In Adam the whole race was subject 
to the penalty. So at that moment the Death-state passed unto ALL 
Men. But at the same time the whole responsibility was taken upon 
Himself by the "First-born of All Creation" in his official capacity, 
as set forth in the Scripture teaching concerning first-borns. "The 
wages of Sin is death" (and death only). "Christ died for our sins." 
"We thus judge that if One died for the ALL, then the ALL died." 
(Rom. 6 : 23 ; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:14. In view of these Scripture 
statements, it should be clear that as the First-born paid the penalty,- 
the death of any human being must be accounted for on some other 
ground than as the penalty for sin. This is obvious in the case of 
Enoch, who was to see no death, and in the case of those "called 
on high" {ano, Phil. 3: 14) ; of those "caught up" to meet the Lord 
in the air (IThess. 4: 17), and for the millions of the coming eons 
who never die. If Enoch and these others do not pay this penalty, 
then the death of Abel and that of all the righteous who follow him 
could not be penal. That would not be according to justice. 

Are we to accept tamely the idea, not baldly stated, perhaps, but 
a necessary element of the usual legal argument for future penalties, 
that grace is but a passive thing in store if we will but pluck up 
determination to call for it? Grace is the action initiated by the 
Infinite Love and Wisdom that guards against danger to a loved 
object. This is a Love unchanged by any temporary attitude on the 
part of the ignorant and unbelieving. Love strong as Death, yea 
stronger, — Love mightier than Sheol. 

13. It is said, however, that this would apply to the Adamic 
sin and its consequences only, and not to individual acts of the many. 
But here verse 13 tells us that sin is not charged where there is no 
law. And where there is no law there is no penalty. Why then 
death from Adam on? Later teaching tells us that this is Divine 
expediency; for, as we have seen, many escape the experience of death. 
If some do experience dissolution, it is a "sleep." "Death is ours." 
"Death is made void," of no effect, "swallowed up by victory." 
(John 11: 11; I Cor. 3:22; I Tim. 1:10; I Cor. 15:54.) Rom. 
5:12-21 is dealing with the headships of Adam and Christ; one, 
head of the human race; the other, having a greater headship, that 
over the universe. It is not a question of law; that is fully con- 
sidered elsewhere; here it is incidental. 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 209 

14. This verse ends with the mention of Adam, who in his place 
of headship is a type of Christ in headship. 

But it must be seen that the first Adam is not a full type of the 
last Adam and the limitations are first to be noted. (1) The One 
Man's legacy of a state of condemnation and death is far surpassed 
by the riches of the Other's GIFT. 

(2) The guilty condition brought about by the one sin is far sur- 
passed in extent by the State of Righteousness, one great element of 
the GIFT. 

(3) The reign of Death resulting from the fallen condition of 
the One Man is more than abrogated by the GIFT, which is not sim- 
ply that Life reigns in place of Death, but that the donee reigns in life. 

18. Verses 15, 16, 17 are negative, but verse 18 is the positive 
conclusion. There is correspondence in the three cardinal points: 
(1) one downfall in Adam, one rectification in Christ; (2) to all 
Men in both cases; (3) to a guilty state in Adam, to Righteousness 
of Life in Christ. 

19. Confirms this positive conclusion. In Adam all sinners, in 
Christ all righteous; as a result of the one's disobedience in the one 
case, and of the other's obedience in the other. 

20. The law was incidental, its operation simply making the last 
condition obvious, and displaying the superabundance of the reign 
of Grace over the reign of Sin. Sin reigned the three hours during 
which Christ was forsaken. This was not made apparent until in 
the penal death of the First-born its reign was finished. For Sin 
reigned in death, and Christ made Death of no effect. No sin, what- 
ever it be, and no abundance of sinful conditions, however dreadful, 
past or future, will ever bankrupt the resources of the Grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, laid up in the Love, the Power and the Wisdom 
of God; Platonism, Neo-platonism, and modern theology, falsely 
so-called, to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Ps. 16: 8, Acts 2: 27, For Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol; 
Neither wilt thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. 

Luke 23: 43, "this day with Me in Paradise." To an Israelite, 
Paradise was a part of Hades. 

Matt. 27 : 52, 53, the graves were opened. If believers now accept 
this, they certainly did so from the beginning. There was a great 
moving day in Hades. Would it be temporary only, shifting back to 
old conditions? Would this incident remain but as a memory? Why 



210 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

did Christ visit Hades, release captives, preach to imprisoned angels? 
It must have been part of His mission. 

Eph. 4:8, 9, The readers of this epistle had heard of Christ's 
descent into the lower parts of the earth. They thought over it; so 
can we. We have all the data that they possessed. 

Ps. 68: 18, led captivity captive, Old Testament saints captives in 
Death and Hades. Paul used the phrase, "lowest-parts of the earth," 
an antithesis of "far above all heavens." He might have said Hades. 
(Ps. 9: 17; 63:9.) 

Isa. 44: 23, Shout! Ye lower parts of the earth. (Ezek. 26: 20; . 
31: 14, 16, 18; 32: 18-24.) 

Meanwhile his separate soul to Hades flew 
The Receptacles of the Dead to view; 
O'er ghastly Death His triumph to proclaim, 
And make all Tophet tremble at his Name. 

— Bp. Ken. 

John 12: 32, Canon Westcott says in Speaker's "Commentary," 
"(ta panta) ALL men: the phrase must not be limited in any way. 
It cannot mean merely 'Gentiles as well as Jews,' or 'the elect,' or 
'all who will believe.' We must receive it as it stands (Rom. 5: 18, 
8:32; II Cor. 5:15; Eph. 1:10; I Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:9; I John 
2:2). The remarkable reading, 'all things' (omnia), points to a 
still wider application of Redemption (Col. 1 : 20)." 

Note the absence of endless punishment from those Scriptures 
where it would be looked for in its clearest statement. (Rom. 2 : 8, 9 ; 
5:21; 6:23; Gal. 5:21; 6:8; Phil. 3: 18, 19; I John 3: 14, 15; 
5: 16.) Paul, Peter and John make no assertion in their epistles 
of endless misery for sinners in the physical sense. This is, of course, 
intentional. 

"There is not one place in Scripture which occurs to me," said 
Dr. Isaac Watts, "where the word death necessarily signifies a cer- 
tain miserable immortality of the soul." 

II Cor. 5: ii, "Consequently, knowing how to reverence the Lord, 
we persuade men, that we may shine forth to God; and I hope we 
shine forth also to your consciences. Knowing that the fear of God 
is the principle of my own life, I try to persuade you that it is fact, 
and that I am no hypocrite; my sincerity is known to God and I 
strive to make it known to you." 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 211 

Matt. 3:7, "Pharisees — who hath warned you to flee from the 
wrath to come?" This has been perverted in common with all Scrip- 
ture references to the future. In disregard of context and dispensa- 
tional distinction, this has been made to represent God in a state of 
endless wrath, and in that wrath tormenting human beings as a pen- 
alty for their sins. Consistent with this there is to be a day of great 
assize, when the Judge will sit on the bench of a criminal court and 
all sinners will be sentenced to this doom. There is much more, but 
let us here confine ourselves to this "coming wrath" and let us examine 
the Scripture to see "if these things are so." Let us look for land- 
marks, for distinguishing features that will identify the time and place 
and occasion of "the wrath to come," of which Jewish Pharisees were 
warned. ( 1 ) This is the wrath of Messiah who was about to come. 
His act of wrath was to consume the chaff, gather His wheat, and 
cleanse His threshing floor. This is distinctly a national affair. 

(2) It is in the future, in a harvest time, and therefore is not a state- 
ment of the general Divine attitude toward all unrighteousness. 

(3) John the baptizer is proclaiming that the promised Kingdom of 
Israel is at hand. (4) The Jews addressed were of the party of the 
second part in a covenant of which Jehovah was the party of the first 
part. 

Matt. 25:10, "The door is shut." "For the lost there is no 
future, no history; they are shut up to retrospect. Man's conscious 
'Knowledge of good and evil' remains, and his knowledge of good 
demands satisfaction. No means for this are within or without him 
in the time between death and resurrection (or the last eon) ; this 
may (?) be described as the 'worm' and the 'fire,' but it is the things 
which make him willing to accept 'good' from the only source of 
good when he sees the opportunity." Whether thoughtlessly or delib- 
erately ignorant, the fact remains that the "lost" as above described 
have never had one glimpse of "the good news of God." Their con- 
science has been exercised on "moral" lines, but "godliness" in the 
New Creation is an unknown doctrine. 

That he should look in darkness and in gloom 
Upon the good he left and mourn his doom ; 
Who without hope live ever in desire. 

— Dante, "Inferno." 

Harmonize Ps. 35 : 56 (imprecatory) and Luke 23 : 54 ("Father, 
forgive them"). The Dean very properly says, "The Key to these 



212 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

Psalms is their Millennial application." But this recognition of dis- 
pensational distinctions would have been the key to the punishment 
question, which is, however, treated in a very different way, for the 
reason that the arbitrary fiat concerning endless punishment must 
stand. 

Do men of God exhort us to exceed Christ in a zeal for justice, 
and in manifestation of mercy? Was God satisfied with the Right- 
eousness of the Universe, redeemed by blood at the cross, and to 
be delivered by the powers of resurrection with all the Divine re- 
sources of Wisdom and grace? And must man demand retributive 
justice in hell for that which was declared righteous by resurrection? 
Alas yes, for many preachers have said, "If there is no hell, there 
ought to be one for"? — for whom if not for all? Why, they say, for 
the Christ-rejectors, if not for the wickedest ones. Can a preacher 
who himself was saved by grace insist upon law for those he is preach- 
ing to if they do not repent upon his preaching? They ought to go 
out and sit with Jonah, as Jehovah took him to task. Jehovah: 
"Is it well for thee to be grieved for the gourd?" Jonah: "It is well 
for me to be grieved to death." Jehovah: "You are sorry for the 
gourd that you did not cultivate, nor cause to grow. It was the 
product of a night and perished in a night. Therefore, should I not 
have pity for Nineveh — that Great City, which has in it more than 
ten times twelve thousand of mankind who do not know their right 
hand from their left, besides multitudes of animals." Jonah did not 
answer. What do you say? Jonah was, as he says, "a Hebrew. I 
reverence the LORD GOD of Heaven who made the Sea and the 
Land." We know those Pharisaic chosen people looked upon the 
uncovenanted Gentiles of Nineveh as dogs: even Paul calls them 
sinners of the Gentiles. What is the value of the election if the elect 
cannot look down upon the non-elect and say, "I am holier than 
thou"? They knew not the Divine Love which said, and followed 
His own saying, "He that would be great among you let him serve." 
Therein consists the greatness of all Bible "elect." That is what they 
are for — "that in thee," elect Abraham, "all families of the earth 
should be blest." But consider Jehovah (no, he is not "obligated") ; 
He says, "Should I not have pity?" Jonah did not make the gourd, 
but the souls of Nineveh, man and beast, non-elect dogs, were precious 
to Jehovah as His own handiwork, objects of love in their creation, 
preservation and destiny. Does He love the creation of which He has 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 213 

taken the place as representative Head? Will He be the same yes- 
terday, to-day, but different for the coming eons? 

Ps. 103:9, He will not contest without ceasing, nor keep his 
anger for the eon. 

Ps. 30:6, His anger is but for a moment, but His kindness re- 
mains for a life. 

Rom. 1 1 : 26, And so all Israel shall be saved. "Paul does not 
mean by this, every Israelite that ever lived. He is referring to the 
nation of Israel as it shall be existing on the earth in the day of 
which he speaks." "This does not mean what it says," is a vicious 
treatment of Scripture, and a resort to it is at least a confession that 
it says what the contestant would deny. 

Here is Dean Gray's testimony, in accord with the truth. "Thank 
God that Christ's death paid the penalty. See Acts 13 : 38, 39; Rom. 
8:1; Gal. 3:13, and many other places." 

"Christ bore the sins of the whole world upon the cross." (Gray.) 
This a Scriptural testimony ; why not accept it at its full value ? 

I Cor. 15:22, "in Christ all" — no notice is taken of the fact in 
verse 23 that not all men are "in Christ," the clause "they that are 
Christ's" at his coming implying that there are some who are not 
"Christ's" at his coming. (Shedd.) Would He deny the resurrec- 
tion of all? This is forcing a point. It is not an effort to get the 
meaning of the passage. He denies the pre-millennial "coming" of 
Christ and views the words out of their direct application. Some 
are not Christ's at His coming, but that is not by any means saying 
that they will not be His later. 

Eph. 1:21, "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
Glory, put the Universe in subjection under the feet of Christ, and 
gave Him to be Head over the Universe to that church which is His 
body:" not to the church in the wilderness, not to the Jewish Church 
of Matt. 18, nor the Millennial church of Matt. 16, nor to the Pen- 
tecostal Hebrew Church of Acts, certainly not to that church from 
which the prophetic soul of Jacob shrank back with the cry, "O my 
soul! Come not thou into their church." "The church which is 
His body" is of this dispensation only, chosen in Christ before the 
wreck of the first cosmos, not made known by any other than Paul 
the prisoner, not a visible organization, having no recognizable begin- 
ning before the time of Paul's first appearance in Rome. It is the 
one spiritual perfect organized body of believers. 



214 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

II Cor. 4: 18, The things seen, temporary; the things not seen, 

eonian. The eonian blessings of the Messianic reign of one thousand 
years are the goal of covenanted Israel, and of uncovenanted Gentiles 

who pass through the forty-two months of wrath. The witness for 
Christ endures something less in his lifetime than Paul did in his, 
but the sufferings of Paul's thirty years were not worthy to be com- 
pared with the one thousand years of eonian blessing. The suffering 
ended, the eonian life was to continue; sempitcrnity is not considered 
in this passage. It is only dogmatic assertion to say that the contrast 
to transient is endli The transient tribulations of a lifetime of 

seventy yens but work out an unsurpassing amount of eonian glory. 
Thai glory was the Millennial reign which, up to that time, was the 
goal of the Divine, promises, ;md what the ones addressed were look- 
ing for (the heavenly glory of the body of Christ was not revealed 
until later). Why insist on the necessity of eternity as the contrast 
in mind? 

I Tim. 1: 10, Abolished death! Do you cry "Victory!" or do 
you minimize this act? Made death nothing? Then it is a penalty 
no longer, for in Christ and His Headship the whole penalty was 
exacted and righteousness established. Darkness is nothing; bring 
in "the light that lighteth all men," and it flees. They comprehend 
it not? Hut they will! So death is now, since resurrection at least, 
a nullity. Redirection annihilated it. And as Israel can now have 
no Mesiah other than on resurrection ground, so the whole new crea- 
tion can have no other Head than flu- Son of ( Jod in resurrection. 
And everyone that experiences resin icction is a son of God. (Luke 
20: 36.) 

Matt* Id: 31, 32, Does this mean that there may be forgiveness 
in the world to come for sins other than the blasphemy against the 
Holy Ghost? Arts. — "Certainly not, lor then the teaching would 
Contradict the whole trend of Scripture. That trend is all in one 
direction; vi/., that man seals his future eternally by his acceptance 

01 non acceptance <>f Jesus in the present life." (Gray.) Advocates 

of doctrine- in controversy contradict each other, and both sides appeal 
to "the whole trend ol Scripture." Such generalities should be 
ignored. 

Rom. 9:28, "For, completing a design, and completing it right- 
eously, the* Lord will perfect his intention in the earth" (design, mat- 
ter, logOSj Completing, ending, ending altogether, sunteleo; cutting 



sv Rim Ri PASSAGES 2\ J 

short, sunternno), There x\ i 1 1 be no surplus ind no lack, no patch 

no w astc. 

Matt. 13: v). 40, 4<j; 24 : Heb.9:a6, These pa 

have "the end of the eon." How could it In- the end oi eternit 
I Cor. !■;: n\ When that which is perfect is come 
Luke 13! \iul the third da] 1 ihall be f«f. 

John 4: 34, fcfj meat is that I should finish His work end — . 

John 5: 36J 17^4: Phil, 1:6, mention a completed work, 

Luke 1:4s, There shall In- 1 / oi the things spoken. 

Heb, 12: at, Jesus, Author and finitker* 

In contrast to this, the temporary character of the la* is seen in 
Heh. 7:19, "For the law perfected nothing!" An.! Luke 14 : 19, 
The man who began to build bu( was not Me to finish is mocked it 
To make the wicked suffer torment, end si me same time be made 
to bow the knee by main lone docs not look like a consummation 
to be desired, nor admired. All God's work is perfect There is no 
waste-basket, no hell-hole. For useless scraps. 

Phil. 2: <)-! 1, Jesus. Joshua in Hchtcw. [esous in (neek. "I .mi 

fa the English meaning. Salvation will at last be the pre 
eminent Idea to he recognised bj ever] intelligent creature in vjiiritu.il 
worship when His Omega is reached. There ma] be ted worship 
in the next eon under the Son oi man. but forced worship has nevei 
been one ot God's methods, and the thought is Foreign to Scripture, 
We sometimes Bee the rather heartless argument that (u^\ is mule: 

no obligation to save all or even one sinner. Hut here is the attitude 

that God himself records, "1 have loved you," saith Jehovah, "with an 

eonian love." "1 will love them freely." And so we have this same 
WOrd applied to tahernacle worship. "1 \ri\one whom His spirit 
made willing,— whose heart made them willing." 1\\. \>::\ 
this was at Sinai; I Chron, 2Q* 9"I7i In, s WS1 tor the temple that 

David prepared tor; Ears 2:68; 7: [3, [6, .mother temple. The man- 
ner of offering is prescribed in Leviticus, hut the offerings were volun- 
tary, (Lev. 7: 16; 22: 18, 21, . •< : |8. ) And see Ps. 110:3, th] 

people shall he willing; IN. il<>: K'S. the ticewill offerings ot nu 
mouth. It ma\ he said that "how the lviiec" is outw.nd tmiii, hut the 
form is an e xpr es si on of true worship on the part <>t tin- Celestials and 
Terrestrials; w h\ should it he called "toreed" on the part oi the Suh 
terrenes' But "how the knee" and "worship" aie the Knglish icn<! 
in^s of the same original words, and on the part <»t spi,its it would 



2l6 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

be figurative for worship. This argument is not necessary for some, 
and to them apology is due. But! Can anyone seriously, not to say 
spiritually, uphold the idea that the Savior will desire a mockery of 
outward form? Recall these words, "The soldiers led Him away 
within the court, which is called the Palace, where they call together 
the whole Cohort [five hundred in number] ; and they arrayed Him 
in a purple robe and crowned Him with a crown of plaited thorns, 
and began to salute him with Hail, King of the Jews! while at the 
same time they kept striking Him upon the head with a stick, spitting 
upon Him, and bowing their knees, worshiped Him." (Mark 
15: 16-19.) Would there be any less mockery in the hearts of all 
those so-called "self-determined, finally impenitent, rejectors of the 
Love of God and the Grace of Christ Jesus," if they were physically 
made to bow the knee? And yet this is the contention of those who 
deny the reconciliation of the Universe of Col. 1 : 20, and the blessed 
character of the "worship" of the Savior in Phil. 2:9-11. And to 
accept these two passages for their full value is labeled "Damnable 
doctrine from the pit of Hell" in a publication called "Grace, Gospel 
Tidings" (March, 1920). What is the "grace" of this language? 
or the "gospel" of endless torment? or the "tidings" which is based 
on erroneous translation? 

Parables are all dispensational ; when this is not seen, they are 
misinterpreted. 

Matt. 5:21, "Thou fool," a crime for Bethdin, the local court 
(Deut. 16: 18). The angry man is as guilty as the murderer. 
"Worthless," as guilty as if under a sanhedrin sentence. "Rebel," 
Deut. 21: 18-20; Num.20: 10. This is like a crime punishable by 
death, with the disgrace added of burial refused, and the body cast 
into Gehenna. (Lev. 20: 14; Eccl. 6:3.) To be thus angry in three 
degrees is like murder whose punishment is described for the first, 
second and third degree (II Kings 9: 35; Isa. 14: 19, 20; Jer. 22:19). 
This was Jewish law for the outer man, but what Christ said was for 
the character of the inner man. (Parallel passage, Mark 9: 41-50.) 

Luke 16: 19-31, (1) A parable, one of a series of five. (2) Infer- 
ences here must not deny other inferences equally possible. (3) It 
refers to the next eon, and not to any final state. 

The Unjust Steward has been made to refer to ( 1 ) Pharisees, 
(2) Publicans, (3) Judas, (4) Pilate, (5) Satan, (6) Paul, (7) The 
Lord. Gal. 3:19, 20 has had three hundred different interpretations. 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 217 

Here is a pamphlet by the Dean of a large Bible Institute (191 8). 
On Matt. 13 : 41. 42 we read, "Here we have the interpretation of the 
parable. Every other figure is explained by the literal fact that it 
represents, but in the interpretation we have 'fire.' In the light of 
these facts we cannot deny the literal fire of hell without doing vio- 
lence to every reasonable law of interpretation." 

The parable sets forth one aspect of the Millennial Kingdom; 
that is. the exclusion from it of lies and their fruit. The furnace 
where the fire burns is limited in place and in time. It is a judgment 
by the Son of Man, and is thus limited to the coming eon; the "gath- 
ering out" is seen in the Unveiling. The fire is the literal Divine 
fire right enough, but the passage should not be perverted to mean the 
final hell-fire of the Dean's Institute. It seems to some that a reason- 
able law of interpretation is found in Phil. 1 : 9. "distinguish things 
that differ." This particular Dean is notorious for ignoring many 
distinctions of the Bible. He identifies Gehenna as the modern hell, 
but Gehenna is not endless. He makes believers of this present dis- 
pensation of the heavenlies identical with earthly Israel, and partakers 
of their pentecostal gifts. He calls the church a kingdom. But in 
this he only utters ideas common to church members. 

Rom. 11:26. "All Israel shall be saved." is not satisfied by the 
conversion of a few, or even of many Israelites in some future gen- 
eration. Even those who stumbled at the Rock of offense had not 
so stumbled as to fall irretrievably. Had not Messiah, their kingly 
National Head, prayed. "Father, forgive them"? Can we think of 
that prayer as denied, and of some of them suffering endless punish- 
ment for sin. or even for that very act of rejection and crime? that 
so-called sin of unbelief, when we read also that all were concluded 
in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all? (Rom. 11 : 32.) 

John 5 : 28, 29, "Here the resurrection of good and bad is for the 
purpose of judgment regarding the things done before their bodies 
were laid in the grave." (Torrey. ) This is vague. Writers of this 
school of eschatology make no reference to a harmonious doctrine of 
the eons, which 652 Scriptural passages demand before dogmatic 
statements are in order. That "eon" may be rendered "age" they 
do here and there "admit,''' since the 1901 revision of the New Testa- 
ment has noted its meaning in the margin fortv-eight times. "Greek, 
Age." 



2l8 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

John 5 : 27, The judgment is by "the Son of Man." This estab- 
lishes it as Millennial. The terms are simple, 

these that practiced the good 

to a life resurrection, 
those that did the evil 

unto a judgment resurrection. 

The "life" is the eonian life so frequently mentioned by John. 
The "judgment" is the eonian judgment, after which they come 
before the Great White Throne. "The good" and "the evil," both 
have the definite article; therefore something special, not general. 
This is another statement of proceedings described in Matt. 25 : 31-46, 
preliminary to the eonian reign of Messiah, Son of Man. 

John 8: 21, "This is even more decisive than the last, 'Ye shall 
die in your sin. Where I am going, you are unable to follow.' Plere 
our Lord distinctly declares that the question, whether men shall come 
to be with Him or not, depends on what they do before they die ; that 
if they die impenitent, if they die in their sins, that whither He goes 
they cannot come." As the Dean professes to be Millennarian, it 
might be supposed that he had Scriptural ideas of the reign of the 
Messiah, King of Israel, and that he distinguished between kingdom 
and church. These Pharisaic Jews that die rejecting Messiah cannot 
come into the Millennial kingdom that is promised. This is not final 
destiny. 

I Cor. 1 1 : 3 ; I Tim. 2 : 11, 15, Headship. The head of the woman 
is the man. When the woman was deceived, the man recognized the 
responsibility of headship and so we read, 

"In Adam's fall 
We sin-ned all," — 

not in Eve's. It is in Adam that all die, but Eve was so named be- 
cause she was to be the mother of all living. Adam might have repu- 
diated the woman's act and condemned her to die, according to law 
and precedent. But while justice demands vindication, headship can 
act in sovereign love and assume all the responsibility and pay all 
the penalty. We can imagine, from the fossil evidence of pre-Adamite 
death, that the "Christed Cherub" of Ezekiel 28 shirked this gracious 
act and allowed his creatures to die alone. "The head of every man 
is Christ." What course will the head of Adam take, — that of the 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 219 

unreliable Seraph or that of the inferior creature, man ? The answer 
is the gospel, "Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin for our 
sakes, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 
(II Cor. 5: 21.) Thus the woman who was in the place of death, 
relieved by the act of her husband in his headship, becomes the mother 
of all living. The divine principle is thus established that all creature 
life shall be out of death. The old Adam dies, and man is to be per- 
petuated on a resurrection basis. The resurrection seed that is to 
be out of the woman shall bruise the Serpent's head; and shall any 
mother of a child be lost? — No, she shall be saved through her child- 
bearing if they (her children) continue in faith and love and sanc- 
tification with sobriety. We need not stumble over this "if;" let us 
go higher. The Head of the man is Christ; the Head of Christ is 
God. If the woman is saved for a resurrection purpose, so the race 
is saved through the act of Christ in Headship, and Christ obedient 
unto death is saved because God is His Head. 

This might be put in other words from a different viewpoint. 
"God would never go back on His Word, Whom He sent forth with 
a purpose. That Eve should escape the penalty and bear a living child 
was evidence that Jehovah had met the responsibility of His Headship. 
"All things are out of God," and when the Son "humbled Himself — 
even to the death of the cross," the Divine Head did not leave His 
soul in Hades, nor suffer His body to see corruption. He raised Him 
up to take the Headship of the new Creation as First-born from the 
dead. This is gospel, the gospel facts on which the gospel of God 
concerning His Son is based. The natural man does not believe it. 
How can he? Natural Religion never dreamed it. Faith alone can 
apprehend it. The natural man's conscience of sin denies it; his in- 
tuitive sense of justice makes him all his life in bondage to the fear 
of death. Ignorant of gospel, there is a fearful looking forward to 
judgment. Christ has become responsible for their sins, has even 
become sin for them, but they remain as ignorant and unbelieving as 
Saul of Tarsus. But when, in grace, a sinner comes to know some- 
thing of God beyond Natural Religion, he experiences the Life out of 
death that is in Christ. To the covenant people this is the Millennial 
goal of eonian life as promised. But there is "life in Christ" outside 
of that covenant and in the last eon, that is also called eonian life. 
It goes beyond the eons, but there is no Scripture term to describe 
what is beyond. The Bible simply says, "For the eon and beyond." 



220 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

It is Christ life, not chronological life; a life in fellowship with God; 
its duration is incidental. This does not deny the endlessness of God ; 
it simply confesses that the idea is beyond our present expression and 
beyond our present concern. 

As to goodness and badness, Adam was "good" in his place; the 
Anointed Cherub of Ezek. 28 was "full of wisdom and perfect in 
beauty." Both knew but little of God and were ignorant of much. 
Their natural knowledge, with spiritual ignorance, "puffed them up." 
In the created righteousness of Adam, he came short of the knowl- 
edge of God and "the righteousness of God." This knowledge is, 
imparted by the Son. (Matt. 11:27.) 

"The Reverend Robert A. Torrey, D. D., Dean of the Bible 
Institute of Los Angeles," writes in "The Exact Truth Regarding 
an Eternal Hell," page 43 : "I once thought and believed and taught 
. . . that the Bible clearly taught that all men would accept 
Christ and be saved." (He also says that if he could think so now, 
and "find one passage that so taught," it would be the happiest day 
of his life; and on page 40 he says he has been "searching diligently 
for such a passage for nearly forty years, and has not found it, and it 
cannot be found.") He further writes, on page 43: "I held and 
taught . . . ultimate universal salvation years before [certain 
Bible teachers mentioned] were ever heard of, indeed, nearly forty 
years ago. I was familiar with the arguments that they now urge, 
and other arguments which they do not seem to know, but which were 
to me more decisive than those they now urge." Philosophical human 
arguments may well be left unmentioned when considering what the 
Word of God actually says. If the Rev. Dean, D. D., can adduce 
Scripture that is more decisive than Col. 1 : 20, and those listed 
below, it would seem to be incumbent upon him to designate it and 
thus give any light which he may have had. Or is every protester 
against eternal torment for sin, such as he himself was forty years 
ago, to be left without the pale of brotherly consideration? 

Acts 3: 21, Restitution of things prophesied. 

John 1 : 29, taketh away the sin of the world. 

John 3:17, sent — that the world might be saved. 

John 3:35, all things in the hand of the Son. 

John 4 : 42, Savior of the world. 

John 6: 37-39, All that the Father giveth Me. 

John 12: 32, I will draw all to Myself. 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 221 

I John 2: I, 2, for the sins of the whole world. 

I John 4: 14, the Savior of the world. 

Eph. 1 : 10, all things under Christ's headship. 
Col. 1 : 20, Christ reconciler — universal. 

Rom. 14:9-11, Lord both of dead and living, every tongue con- 
fesses. No man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself. 

II Cor. 5:19, sins not charged to the world. 
I Tim. 4: 10, Savior of all men. 

I Tim. 2: 1, 3, 6, will have all men to be saved. 

Rom. 9:11, All Israel saved, then fulness of Gentiles? 

Rom. 11 : 32, mercy upon all. 

Rom. 5: i-ii, 12-21, All saved under the Headship of Christ. 

I Cor. 15: 20-28, All subdued, voluntarily, gladly, that God may 
be all in all. 

Why take the bloom from these Divine words? Why abate 
their generous force? The Jews were elect and ordained to bless the 
Gentile nations. In Acts 22: 21, Paul, speaking in their temple to 
this elect people, was listened to, for he spoke in Hebrew ; but when he 
said, "The Lord sent me unto the Gentiles," their race prejudice 
broke out. "Away with such a fellow from the earth !" There is a 
chosen company now, "the body" of Christ for the heavens, elect 
to go and minister blessing to the non-elect. Again we hear some of 
these, proud of their special salvation, saying, "Away!" Well, dear 
fellow-member, we shall all soon be "away!" We listen for that 
"calling up on high." There are many more passages noted in various 
connections in this book that would seem to be what the brother has 
been searching for, though he asserts "it cannot be found," notably 
Rom. 5: 12-21, on subsequent pages. 

The thousand years of Rev. 20 : 6, 7 is called "the coming eon" 
(not the coming eternity). Mark 10: 30; Luke 18: 30; 20: 35. 

Luke 1 : 32, shall not cease throughout the eons. 

Luke 1 : 55, promised to Abraham, and his heir for the eon. 

John 6:51, if anyone should eat of this bread he will live for the 
eon. John 6: 58; 8:51,52; 11:26. 

John 8: 35; 12:34, servant does not abide for the eon, but the 
Son does. 

John 10: 28, The Shepherd says, I give to my sheep eonian life 
(one thousand years). 



222 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

John 14: 16, The Comforter, to continue with the Twelve for 
the eon. 

II Cor. 9:9, His righteousness will endure for the eon. (Ps. 
112:9.) 

Heb. 5 : 6; 6: 20; 7: 17, 21, 24, 28, A priest for the eon (the next 
one only). 

Time comes into being with the heavenly bodies whose cycles 
measure it. God is immeasurable. 

The progressive character of God's program in the revelation of 
His Truth should not be ignored. 

Matt. 1 1 : 20-24, If the mighty works had been done in Sodom 
which were done in Capernaum, it would have remained until this 
day. So also Chorazin, Bethsaida, and the cities where the Twelve 
announced the Kingdom near and healed the sick. Luke 10: 12 says, 
It shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom; "that day" being 
the Day of Wrath at the Lord's second coming. Why, if necessary 
to that salvation that the Lord desired for them, — why did not Sodom 
see the mighty works necessary for that end? And again (Matt. 
13: 10-15) Parables were used to hide truth from certain Jerusalem 
rulers, "lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with 
their ears, and understand with their heart, and should turn again 
and I should heal them." Here again that which would lead to re- 
pentance and salvation was hid. Certain Divine works would have 
saved Sodom: dispensational purposes concerning their kingdom, if 
plainly revealed, would have healed the ignorance of those who 
resisted the evidence of the miracles and followed Sodom to destruc- 
tion. And again, if these rejecters of the gospel of the kingdom had 
been confronted by the risen Messiah, as Saul of Tarsus was, they 
would have repented, and Israel's cities would have remained. We 
have the clew in these words, "born before the time." Saul of Tarsus 
was wanted individually before the ordained time for the salvation 
of the whole nation, to perform a special service for a special body 
before the national service of the nation Israel would be due accord- 
ing to program. So "in the fulness of time," at exactly the ordained 
time, the Savior was born. 

Does not this comprehensive view tell us that the Divine plan 
is for comprehensive good, and that its untimely interruption, though 
it might hasten the experience of a local few, yet that few must submit 
to the blessed principle of a unified creation, that no man liveth unto 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 223 

himself and no man dieth unto himself, but he is bound in a bundle 
of life, and the ultimate ordained good of all and each is not to be 
sacrificed for a premature perfection of a few? Is not this seen in 
the instances just referred to? And is not every present believer 
profiting by the postponement of Israel's sure mercies? And are we 
to accept the dictum that for the exceeding riches of grace which is 
the portion of the members of the Heavenly Body we are to be 
indebted to the endless torture of all the children of the Abrahamic 
Covenant who have been blinded to the truth of Christ these nineteen 
centuries? Shame on such gross ignorance! If the blood-redemption 
of Christ does not of itself secure our blessing, no hell-fire suffering, 
no matter how numerous the victims, can assure it. "And so all 
Israel shall be saved." If this refers exclusively to the remnant of 
living Israelites when their Messiah appears, then you can forever 
tune your harp to the groans of those in hell who are to be sent there 
for your benefit. Come now, Bible professor, face this. Is this fre- 
quent sacrifice of a portion for the good of the whole to be temporary 
or sempiternal? 

Sodom was not chosen to do the work of Israel. Israel was not 
chosen to gather the "Body" for the heavenlies. Each in its own time 
and place will fulfil its ordained ministry; the Body of Christ over 
the Universe, the restored Nation of Israel over the nations, the elect 
for ministry to the non-elect. The Kingdom of Priests will not be 
ready to minister until perfected in their Priest-King. The Body 
of Christ will not be ready to minister until perfected in their Divine 
Head. Sodom was disciplined as Israel has been, though not so 
severely; for the passage referred to shows that they were not so 
stiff-necked as Israel. The curtain must drop on the scene of this 
dispensation before it rises on Israel's tribulation discipline and sub- 
sequent restitution. 

"There is no Scriptural proof that those dying in infancy are 
saved. We hope they are saved through the mercy of God, on the 
ground of the atonement of Christ ; and this inasmuch as although they 
were born in sin, they were not actual transgressors of God's law." 
— Gray. 

How the black shadow of unbelief in Christ Victorious in the 

"reconciliation of all things" reaches even to the cradle! Human 

nature will not admit the eternal torment of infants, but all the 

theologians find in the Bible is a "hope" that God will show mercy. 

*5 



224 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

They have no confidence in these words from the lips of Jesus, "It 
is the will of My Father who is in Heaven that not one of these little 
ones should perish." (Matt. 18: 14.) And because the doctrine of 
endless penalty for sin (that has been atoned for) must be defended, 
this explicit statement is met with a "hope so." 

Natural fire was strange fire. The wood upon the altar was 
kindled by Divine fire from Heaven. Coals from this altar were 
to be used on the censors. Nadab and Abihu were promptly dealt 
with for using profane fire. (Lev. 10: 1.) 

Natural Light. — There was no sunlight or moonlight in the holy 
place of daily ministry. The seven-branched lamp was to be cared 
for by the priests, who bring the oil and trim the wicks. It was 
to burn continually to light the ministering priests. They were to 
furnish the shew bread and the incense, all according to instruction. 
Probably the lamp was first lighted from the altar fire. In Eli's old 
age the word of Jehovah "came seldom" and at the same time "the 
lamp of God was becoming dim." The Aaronic priesthood failed to 
keep the light, both material and spiritual, and it must give place to 
the better Melchisedec order. (I Sam. 3 : 1-9.) 

Natural glory was condemned. The glory of God was the all- 
sufficient illumination of the Most Holy Place; as it will also be for 
the holy city Jerusalem. (Rev. 21 : 23.) 

The Scripture teaching of the headships of Christ is rarely ap- 
pealed to, but we have it definitely stated in I Cor. 11:3; Eph. 
1 : 9, 10, 22; Col. 1 : 8; 2: 10-19, and in type in Col. 1: 15, "first-born 
of all creation;" vs. 18, "first-born from the dead;" Rev. 1:5, Israel 
is my son, my first-born. Israel is not a complete nation without 
Messiah their King. (Ex. 4: 23, 24.) So the first-born son at the 
passover, and the exchange of Levites for first-born, and especially 
Rom. 5 : 12,21, Adam, representative head of the race, his headship 
taken by the last Adam. All this with "first fruits" confirms the 
importance of the beloved Son, "first-born of creation," the "Begin- 
ning of the Creation of God." (Rev. 3:14.) 

With this in mind, read II Cor. 5 : 14, "because we thus judge that 
One died for all, therefore all died." When The Head and repre- 
sentative of all creation died, then the Universe died with Him, and 
that was the end of sin by the complete exaction of the penalty. 
With the resurrection of Christ declaring righteousness satisfied (Rom. 
4:25), and also manifesting the Divine Sonship (Rom. 1:4), we 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 225 

can see by faith the Head of the New Creation. The old has no 
resurrection, for u a son of resurrection is a son of God." (Luke 
20:36.) Many believers confess a lingering experience of the old 
Adam. Will that "old man" have a resurrection and will they have 
this dual nature in the heavenlies? Some, like Dean Plumptre, think 
so. But no! The old nature passes away with the darkness that is 
passing away, with death that shall be no more, with the earth and 
the heaven that flee away from the face of — ? ( Rev. 20 : 1 1 . ) 
Whose face? Is the undescribed One sitting on that throne acting 
in any limited capacity? Is it not rather the face of Him who in all 
things has the pre-eminence, whose name is above every name, who 
has all power, whose nature is Love, who made Saul of Tarsus look 
Him in the face, and who now compels Cain to lift up his head and 
see how woefully he misjudged the pleading Jehovah. Cain had 
said, My punishment is greater than I can bear, — the first of many 
ignorant and unbelieving Cains and Sauls who are of the Dead before 
the Great White Throne, who will then look into that "face" and 
get the great surprise of their experience. The road to Damascus 
witnessed such a meeting of the wilful, ignorant, unbelieving Saul, 
and he had an experience in which he is declared to be a sample of 
those "who should hereafter" believe on Him unto eonian life. Being 
in Timothy, it was life in the last eon, not the fourth ; it would apply 
to the Dead before the Great White Throne. He that hath eyes to 
see let him not only see, but consider it. At first you may but see 
"men as trees walking." The Lord Jesus will not rest in any unfin- 
ished work. If this seems too much to believe, you should find a 
Scriptural basis for your objection. But remember that all Scripture 
calls for faith. II Cor. 5 : 14, "then the all died." What, then, shall 
we say of death since this wholesale transaction? First, it cannot be 
an exaction of the penalty the second time. Second, Christ has 
brought it to nothing, and brought life and immortality to light 
through the gospel. (II Tim. 1 : 10.) His personal resurrection 
Life annuls death as Light annuls darkness; these vanish, they are no 
more, for Life and Light pervade the new creation; darkness and 
death were but negations, dependent on absence of the Life and 
Light. And what shall we say of sin after the cross ? It was but an 
incident of the old creation, and, like the old nature of a believer, 
there is our finite experience of it, but it does not exist in the sight of 
God. Would a sinbearer be seated with the Father? Here faith 



226 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

must accept God's word that He is not charging any sin to any son 
of Adam. He bids His servants preach this. (II Cor. 5 : 18.) Faith 
is challenged to accept it and abide by it. Verily God's thoughts 
are not as our thoughts. Pray again "that He would grant you ac- 
cording to the riches of his glory that ye might be strengthened with 
power through His Spirit in the inward man." 

Have you considered this subject in all its aspects, and yet do not 
grasp the fulness of the work of Christ, and retain a lingering idea 
that by this Gospel some will be in heaven who are not fit to be there, 
or if not so outspoken as this, that imperfection is somehow accepted 
under the Headship of the Son of God. Some, like Dean Plumptre, 
think of the good getting better, and some, of the bad growing worse. 
All such speculations are a reflection on Grace. It is the workman- 
ship of Christ. Under the Headship of Christ the New Creation 
will be perfect in every particular; otherwise it would not be accept- 
able to the Holiness of God. 

Judas. This word means praise. But in the shadow of the cross 
it comes to us with the sinister significance of treachery. It contrasts 
sharply with the name exalted above every other name which stands 
for loyalty without a flaw. "He loved unto the end." Treachery is 
a Satanic trait. First, "The Devil having put it into the heart of 
Judas." Still he hesitated; then "Satan entered into him" and the 
deed was done. 

1. He was chosen of Jesus after a night of prayer. It must be 
perfectly apparent to the Obedient one that this was the direct will 
of God. Matt. 10:4; Mark 3: 19; Luke 6: 16. 

2. He was commissioned with the others, with power over un- 
clean spirits, to cast them out, as well as to cure every kind of mental 
disease, and all sickness. 

3. He made his bargain with the chief priests. Respectability 
which bought the Savior would not take back the tainted money, but 
someone was near who picked up the thirty pieces and put them to 
charitable uses, and the recording angel has it in his book, so they 
say. Matt. 26: 14-16; Mark 14: 10, 11 ; Luke 22: 3-6. Poor Char- 
ity! to be so largely dependent on tainted money. 

4. Four Evangelists record the betrayal in the Garden: Matt. 
26 : 48, 49 ; Mark 14 : 42-45 ; Luke 22 : 47, 48 ; John 18 : 25. 

5. At the supper. Jesus washed Judas's feet, and declared that 
one of the Twelve would betray him; Judas said with the rest, "Mas- 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 227 

ter, is it I ?" "Who is it, Master?" whispered John. "He is the one," 
said Jesus, "for whom I shall dip this morsel." He handed it to 
Judas. ( Mark 26 : 25 ; John 1 3 : 26-30. ) 

6. Satan entered into him. "Jesus therefore said unto him, 
What thou doest do quickly." Judas carried the bag. He was 
possessed by a cunning, avaricious nature from the beginning. (Luke 
22: 3; John 13: 2; John 6: 70, 71.) 

7. His blind criticism of Mary of Bethany. He saw not what 
Jesus did in that anointing (John 12: 48) ; he was too gross. 

8. The prophecy, Ps. 69:23-30: "Blot them from the Book of 
the Lives; let them not be inscribed with the Good." 

9. His suicide. (Acts 1:18.) 

10. His own place, or his "proper position," as Fenton ren- 
ders it. 

11. "Good for Him, if that man had not been born. (Matt. 
26: 24.) Grammatically, "Him" refers to the "Son of Man." 

12. The attitude of Jesus at the crisis, "Friend!* The same 
yesterday, and for the eons. 

All this detail arrests the attention; it is surely written for our 
admonition. What are the lessons to be learned? 

1. Sacred office does not sanctify the office-holder nor save him, 
else Satan would not have fallen, nor have dragged down so many 
officers with him. Plumptre says, "The fall of Judas showed that 
election did not insure the certainty of salvation." Which remark 
shows that "holy orders" do not give a man spiritual perception. 
(John 6: 70; Matt. 19: 2-8.) 

2. The commission of the Twelve in Matt. 10 was to a large 
field, and as a sample of accomplishment their mission tour was suc- 
cessful, and they had a glorious time doing it and a voluble time re- 
porting it; but the field is not appreciably altered to this day. The 
Millennial teaching will see a completed harvest. 

3. The actual betrayer is a dirty tool, and hypocritical respecta- 
bility is maintained by using a long handle. The Lord accosted the 
tool as "Friend," but he designated the bribers as hypocrites, serpents, 
spawn of vipers. There are modern religious magnates who spurn 
with pious horror the idea that there are Divine resources in Grace 
which shall yet reconcile the betrayer and the Betrayed; and as to 
Satan, the prime minister of evil? They can but be silently amazed 
at the audacity of the idea that the Savior cares for his reconciliation. 



228 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

4. Human Nature has its limitations. For a man, as God made 
him, to commit a Satanic act, he must be stimulated by Satan. It is 
also true that for a man to live godly, he must be moved by a Divine 
spirit. 

5. Judas had a plausible exterior, but in the inner man he was 
possessed by avarice, blunted perception, moral degeneracy; he was 
to have the subtle enemy of Christ put into his heart to betray, having 
no doubt made the worse to appear the better, as with our mother Eve. 
He had no part of his nature in tune to respond to the meaning of 
Jesus when he washed the feet of him that was swift to shed blood, 
or to the offering of the sop ; or to that of the anointing at Bethany ; 
or of that unchangeable attitude of Jesus who called him "Friend," 
or of the repulsiveness of the treacherous kiss. To-day, "Have you 
any room for Jesus?" Or is every part of your being possessed to his 
exclusion ? 

6. Demon possession is a prevailing present fact of evil omen. 
It was not said of Judas that he had a demon, but that he was a devil. 
(DiaboluSj adversary.) 

7. The certainty of treachery must not cause us to withhold all 
that love would prompt us to do. 

8. Judas had read the sixty-ninth Psalm, a prophecy which was 
indeed as a light in a dark place, but he heeded it not. These are days 
when many bibles are read, and when there is much talk about the 
Bible, and many have read the passage of God's word which condemns 
them with all the blindness of a Judas. It is the obedience of a living 
faith that the Truth demands. 

9. Suicide! What a desperate act! What a confession of 
faithlessness! What a sorry resort in the day of trouble! And 
more ; but also what ignorance of the nature and purposes of God. 

10. His own proper place. Everything, animate and inanimate, 
in God's creation has that, and the God of order will in the Headship 
of Christ accomplish the perfect order of the New Creation. Mean- 
time, out of place, unsettled, uncertain, lacking wisdom, ask of God. 
He will see you safe through all your perplexities, giving peace in the 
midst of turmoil. 

11. Matt. 26: 24, The difficulty imputed to this verse is removed 
at once by a translation pronounced by competent Greek scholars to 
be correct — concerning the two, "The Son of Man" and "that man." 
It simply says of the Son of Man, "Well would it have been for 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 229 

Him if that man had never been born" to betray him. Well would 
it have been with Jesus if the Cross itself had not been necessary. But 
for the dogmatic objections of systematic theology, this would be the 
accepted rendering. Further, "kalon (good) is untranslatable; and 
how mild the expression compared with what might have been ex- 
pected from the ordinary viewpoint." "Can we accept, unreservedly, 
regardless of all context, that God created a soul, loved and redeemed 
him, called him 'Friend,' chose him for the office of traitor, and 
that it were good that he had not been born, because endless hell is 
his foreordained destiny? How much explaining is necessary even to 
imagine this." It might have been good for that man's conscience, 
feelings, reputation, etc., but reverse the saying. "It was an evil for 
that man that he was born." And we then have the one problem of 
any or all evil; if it is temporary, it is to accomplish a purpose; if 
endless, then insoluble. "I kill and I make alive" is good ultimately. 
So Job cursed the day on which he was born. Many men are born 
to evil. Some in high places like Judas, and some in low places like 
the crucified malefactor, evil for them temporarily, but not finally, 
and all raised up "for that very purpose" of God. If any creature 
has a future place, it must be in that new creation of which Christ 
is Head. 

12. We are taught to abhor treachery, but in blessed contrast 
we see the divine loyalty of Jesus. "Having loved His own, He 
loved them to the end." Can we enter into full fellowship with the 
spirit shown in that word "Friend" as Jesus thus accosted Judas in 
the garden? In the case of David it was, as he called him, "mine 
own familiar friend." Ahithophel was caught in the blaze of oppor- 
tunity that satisfied revenge. He, too, saw no avenue more inviting 
than suicide. The value of friendly relations with all men is enforced 
by these instances of treachery. Civilization depends on trustworthi- 
ness. In barbarism and its false religion, where no dependence is 
to be placed on friends, the results are catalogued in Rom. 1 : 28 — 
"treacherous" comes between "senseless" and "unnatural." Apart 
from Christ, Natural Religion is "down grade." Will Jesus ever 
cease to be the "friend" of Judas? Is He not the same yesterday, 
to-day and for the eons? It is the old Adamic nature, satanized, that 
is the Judas. He need not commit suicide. When Christ died, he 
died; thus faith disposes of him. Trust him not. 



230 



CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 



Ps. 69: 23-25, This is applied to Judas in Acts 1 : 19, 20, but it 
is also applied to Israel, Rom. 1 1 : 10. If the fall of Israel was the 
riches of the world, so was the fall of Judas. The individual was a 
type of the nation, and that generation was filled with a fanatical 
zeal for religious and political patriotism. There is the wider appli- 
cation, The old Adam; the race itself was poisoned by the injection 
of Satanic, malevolent treachery, and this is called "the flesh," which 
is contrary to the spirit. 

The following is submitted as a possible help to some who are not 
familiar with the eons and dispensations revealed in Scripture, in 
accord with which this book is written. 

DIAGRAM IV. 



Of A. IV. 








/O 
II 


s/ 




/4 


/ 








Z 


3 




A 


iZ 








/3 








6 




\^WMM 






7 



8 



1. First Creation in its First-born representative. This dies at 
the cross. This is its end in the sight of God. But even as the be- 
liever, to whom all things are new, has for his instruction an experi- 
ence through his body, so all the old Cosmos has a lingering existence 
in accommodation to the slowness of finite intelligence. 

2. The human race in Adam to the Cross, the completion of the 
Old Creation. 

3. From Abraham to the Cross, with the Kingdom of Israel 
ordained at Sinai as the agent of Theocratic government. 

4. The Pentecostal generation of Israel, say A. D. 30 to 70. 

5. The pre-millennial generation of Jacob, 40 or 70 years. 

6. Death and Hades, personified in the Apocalypse, with bodies, 
souls and spirits of the dead. 

7. The Lake of Fire for 1,000 years. II Thess. 2 : 8 ; Rev. 
14:9-11; 23: 10. 

8. The Lake of Fire, post-millennial. The unveiled glory of 
the Son of God in this eon, like the lesser glory of the Son of Man in 
II Thess. 2:8, is tormenting fire to all unbelievers. Torment ceases 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 23 I 

on belief ; belief comes upon a sight of "the face" of Him that sitteth 
on the Throne ; Resurrection comes with belief : and the old Creation 
is gone. Rev. 20: 11 to 21 : 5 ; I Tim. 1 : 15-17. 

9. The New Creation begins with Christ, risen, ascended, om- 
nipotent, and as First-born taking his place as the Head. 

10. The Old Testament Saints were raised, and followed Christ 
in the train of His resurrection Triumph. These are The New 
Jerusalem above, the bride of the Lamb, becoming in the last eon 
the Holy City, the tabernacle of God on earth. Matt. 27 : 52, 53 ; 
Eph. 4:8; Rev. 21 : 9, 10. 

11. Believers of this dispensation take their place in the New 
Creation as the body of the Christ, Christ being "Head over the uni- 
verse, to the Ecclesia which is His Body, the complement which is 
culminating the universe, in all its parts." 

12. The Kingdom of Heaven for 1,000 years, under the Son of 
Man, Messiah; "the Kingdom of priests" at last installed in office. 
Ex. 19: 6. 

13. Gentile nations ruled over by Israel. 

14. The eon of the eons, the last. The Son of God unveils his 
glory and brings the original revealed purpose of God to an end. The 
Creative Word, sent forth, returns, and His Godhood is manifested 
to the New Creation. 



Having received pamphlets, professing the truth of universal recon- 
ciliation, and of the definite purpose of God to be accomplished within 
limited eons, which at the same time deny the virgin birth and the 
Deity of Jesus Christ our Lord, I could wish that the first chapter of 
this book were more worthy of the truth there indicated. However, 
the following Scriptures encourage us to stand fast whereto we have 
already attained, in spite of all attempts to add man's wisdom to God's. 

1. Heb. 6:4-6. Some of the covenant people, who had even been 
partakers of pentecostal gifts, found it easy to yield to the influence 
of the many who were zealous for the old covenant. They were in 
danger of falling away from their faith in the new and better covenant 
in the blood of their Messiah. Paul, however, is persuaded better of 
them, even things that accompany salvation. 

Was it rash and dangerous to go contrary to the prevailing spirit 
of the nation? to turn from that which was "done away" at the cross, 



232 CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER ALL 

and put their faith in that better covenant with their risen Messiah? 
The mass of the nation always did resist the Holy Ghost in the pro- 
phetic messages. Now carnal Christendom has repeated the apostasy 
of Judaism. Is the believer therefore to lose confidence in Christ and 
follow Demas, loving the spirit of this Babylonian eon? 

2. Rom. 3 : 20-26; 5 : 1-11, 21 ; 6: 1. In this epistle to the saints 
in Rome, Paul proclaims his Gospel. "Justified freely by His grace," 
— "access by faith into this grace wherein we stand," — "Christ died 
for the ungodly, for sinners, — while we were enemies, — reconciled, — 
Grace reigns." Paul was hounded by fanatical legalists charging 
"Antinomian !" — "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" 
Every preacher of grace has stirred up the same enmity. The 
Galatians, having begun in grace, fell from it. Have you? Because 
grace is abused, as all God's gifts have been, shall we cease, by faith, 
to embrace it, and proclaim it ? even though we have to fight the good 
fight of faith against legalism? 

3. Again, read I Cor. 1:9: "God is faithful, by Whom ye were 
called into the fellowship [partnership] of His Son Jesus Christ 
our Lord." Have you entered into the blessedness of this, and would 
you guard it as a precious thing? Would you jealously maintain it 
though it is almost universally profaned ? And though you experience 
the enmity of organized christi-anity ? Paul condemned the Corin- 
thian carnal sects. Will he condone those of to-day? — Is spiritual 
fellowship something that we should cease to promote, lest we be ex- 
communicated ? Paul wrote two epistles to these Corinthians, ending 
the second with this prayer, "The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be 
with you all." Can you honestly and consistently say "Amen" to this 
as the member of a sect? 

4. Phil. 3 : 18. Even some members of the Heavenly Body are 
here said to be "enemies of the cross of Christ." — Shall we therefore 
be shamed out of our advocacy of that Blessed Secret which is the 
manifestation of "the — exceeding — riches — of — His — grace?" Shall 
we continue to imitate Paul as he followed Christ? Shall we be "not 
ashamed" as he was not who initiated us into the Mystery? or shall 
we forsake Paul as Demas did, having loved this present eon? 

5. This book, "Christ Victorious Over All," is an attempt to 
take by faith the high place of "Colossian" Truth. Paul in this epistle 
makes much of the Headships of Christ. "Not holding The Head," 



SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 233 

the Divine Head, they went to their own heads for wisdom. This 
gave their adversary an opening ; the shield of faith was down. There 
had been a betrayer, one of the Twelve. Look at the names in Colos- 
sians: Paul, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke 
— and DEMAS. What a fellowship in the truth of universal recon- 
ciliation, which is brought to a climax in this letter! Now! is that 
truth to be discounted because Science and Philosophy trick some into 
most pitiful error ? Is a denial of the virgin birth and Deity of Christ 
to be charged to this Colossian truth, or to modern Science and 
Philosophy, which bears the same fruit now that the wisdom of men 
did in Cclosse? 

This error is the attempt to increase the sum of wisdom by adding 
that of man to the wisdom of God, or, in modern phrase, to reconcile 
Scripture and Speculation, otherwise christened Science. 

It is the Word of God only that can make us wise unto salvation. 
But why add words? Lord Jesus, come! and end this weary night! 

Now brethren! Paul could not excommunicate any member of 
that body chosen in Christ before the wreck of the first Cosmos, and 
by that same token he could not alienate his "love in the Spirit" from 
any Demas, nor even from those enemies of the cross that he could 
not mention without weeping. When others point the finger of scorn, 
and say, "I told you so," stand fast on Colossian grace and say in 
Christ, "The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen." 
For you are called to a universal ministry. Our beloved brother and 
fellow-member of the Heavenly Body charges us, "first of all, to offer 
supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings! for all men." 
O, Paul! will we ever catch up to you? Wait until we have said 
"Amen" to the Divinely prompted prayer of Eph. 3: 14-20, and have 
a supply of Divinely given faith. But why this thanksgiving of 
I Tim. 2:1 for all men if God our Savior, who would have all men 
to be saved, cannot save them ? Paul is not writing to babes when he 
writes to Timothy. This is an advanced lesson in the school of God. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. HE HUMBLED HIMSELF .. 7 

His whole course, from Alpha to Omega, was one in 
which His Divine glory was veiled. The Arian error. 

II. THE PERSONAL EQUATION 19 

Bias is seen in many particulars. 

III. THINGS THAT DIFFER 34 

Eons, dispensations, times, places, people. 

IV. FIVE EONS OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 45 

In which the purposes of God are revealed and accom- 
plished. 

V. NATURAL RELIGION 66 

Humanity apart from Revelation groping in the lim- 
ited and temporary Sphere of Law. 

VI. SIN'S PENALTY PAID ONCE FOR ALL. 76 

The reign of Sin superseded by the reign of Grace. 

VII. PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE? 98 

The place of each according to Scripture. 

VIII. HEAVEN, HADES, GEHENNA, ETC 122 

Various persons and various places. 

IX. FREE-WILL, OR SELF-DETERMINATION 148 

The limits of self-determination. 

X. MISCELLANEOUS QUOTATIONS 160 

Of application to the subject, more or less. 

XL SCRIPTURE PASSAGES 194 

That are often referred to as bearing on the general 
subject. 



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